Ashes
by DarkestFlameUchiha
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke, prince of the Underworld, had one task and one alone: to find himself a bride to continue the clan. No one in the demon world was near worth his hand, so why not try the human world? SasuNaru Please read notes inside. COMPLETE
1. Smite Me, Almighty Smiter

Ashina: I have a new story! Yay! So this time my seme (yes, I am a proud uke) decided to butt herself into this and put up her own comments so blame her for the intro being long.

Mirai: WTF man! Here I am, coming to love you up and you make me feel like shit? Well then, I don't think you'll mind if I tell the entire audience that—

Ashina: Please don't, Master-sama. (suddenly wearing collar and chain) Forgive me!

Mirai: That's better. (devilish smirk)

Ashina: Oh my gosh! Did you know they're doing a remake of "Ai no Kusabi"? I know! I freaked when I heard about it! I don't entirely remember where I read it...maybe aarinfantasy... ooh! But it comes out this fall! (does supa happy dance)

Mirai: What's that?

Ashina: (dies)

Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, a delicious lemon squeeze... anything else?

Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned (of course not willingly; I forced them). Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot. Not like I liked them anyways...well, maybe TenTen... but that's because she doesn't piss me off by pursuing guys she shouldn't.**

**This chapter has been edited - 20. 01. 11 - A number of reviewers mentioned that I had a couple of problems with this story and the sequel matching up, as well as the flow of this story not being as smooth as it could be. So I decided to a little bit of clean up. Though I didn't bother to mention that this had initially started out as a one-shot, and thus I'm coming up with the plot as I go along, I recognized that I needed to fix what I could. **

**-U R Darkest's Pawn-**

Ashes

_Uchiha Sasuke, prince of the Underworld, has been ordered by the Supreme, Uchiha Fugaku, to find himself a suitable wife and mate to continue the Uchiha line of demons. He has been given a matter of one hundred and sixty-eight hours, a week in the mortal time, to search out and select his partner._

Sasuke blinked again. He had reread the letter a number of times now, at least ten, and he still couldn't make sense of it. At the age of nineteen, he had figured that his parents had finally given up on his duty to continue the clan (for he'd reached maturity a year ago). And besides, his older brother had done quite a fine job with all of his partners.

He thought that the only thing that might bother them was if he were to bring a hooker home. Truthfully, all they wanted was to keep their bloodline going, to keep their family in power.

"They're all the same." he scoffed, chucking the paper which he'd crumpled over his shoulder. "It's just about the power. That's all it ever is."

Demons were fortunate, or unfortunate (depending on one's views), creatures. They lived lives that spanned beyond centuries, but were still mortal. They died when it was their time, but they lived to watch and witness the foolishness of mortals, which many of them had come to believe had been set up for their entertainment. The irrational actions of humans sustained their lives almost as well as everything else in their environment.

Unlike many of the idiotic mortals believed, the Underworld was a plentiful place. Nothing lacked. It was like the Earth of the Mortal World without its many problems. As a matter of fact, after spending so many years looking up at their sky, at the world above theirs, it was like this place was better than that one. At least here there were no problems with getting laid...

Many laughed at how so many people suffered from lack of sexual satisfaction, because it was an unfathomable thing in this world. Being a society of all men, libidos raged long and almost never had their fill. Not unless one was to settle down with someone and be married.

This brought Sasuke back to his original problem of having to find someone to reproduce his bloodline with. His past of constantly changing lovers bothered his parents.

Though his brother had done the same thing, he had at least the patience to become a polygamist rather than just a person to sleep around. He had married every single one of his lovers and decided to trade off nights with his "wives".

His father, the King of Amartia**(1)**, one of the wealthier countries in the Underworld, had been letting slip a few subtle suggestions for him to find a permanent partner, or even a few if he so wished, as long as that would mean he could continue their family.

Even his daddy, Mikoto, had begged him to listen to his father. His other father's gentle and "motherly" disposition often won out over his rebellious side, as it had in this situation.

Sasuke glanced once more around his room, making sure there was not a single book or paper out of place before he transported himself to the mortal world.

The sunlight was far too hot. The air was dirty; it smelled of burned up gasoline and sweat, and yet it was four in the afternoon.

The Uchiha readjusted his sunglasses, ones that he'd brought from the Underworld because of his own arrogance, as he headed down the street.

The loud honking cars and the bustling people creating the din gave him such a headache. In resignation, he checked into a hotel to wait until the night.

Somewhere in Los Angeles, the Uchiha prince found himself staring up at a brightly lit neon sign. **Gentlemen's Exorcist Club ~ Let us bring out the Demon in you.**

"Hn."

A strip club that claimed to be able to release a man's inner beast…

He pushed open the barred door, the chains hanging from the ceiling barely touching him as he stealthily made his way through the hazy red-tainted atmosphere. There were platforms with boys, yes boys (they couldn't have been any older than seventeen), dancing around cold metal poles.

His eyes scanned over the lot of them, barely developed children wearing fishnet shirts and leather pants. Taking a place farthest away from the entertainment, he flagged down a waiter and continued to observe.

The man walked over with an overly-friendly smile. His bright pink hair, short and framing, distracted the demon for a moment; sea green eyes captured his and a very suggestive smile flashed in his direction. His outfit consisted of mini black shorts, those of which had belts connecting them to his dark red, half-shirt (that outlined his nipples) as well as to his knee-high boots. He had three piercings in each ear, and a black hair clip to match. (A/N: gag...I hate her!)

"Is there anything I can get you, Master?" the man asked.

Sasuke glanced at his nametag, "Actually, Sakura, I was looking for someone who might be able to assist me."

The rosette smiled. "Well, sir, all of our performers and waiters," he accompanied with a wink, "are all trained to be of service to the Masters who walk into our haven. What might you need assistance with?"

"I'm looking to find myself a suitable person for tonight only. Do you think you might be able to help me?" He asked, a devious smile playing on his lips.

"Mmm…I think I might be able to find _someone_ to help with your sin…" he laughed coyly, batting his eyelashes at the demon prince.

Suddenly, the entire aura of the club changed. A combination of fog and pale white and blue lights had sprung up on the main stage. A man's voice came over the intercom and Sasuke witnessed how every person, whether waiter, performer, or patron, seemed to have their attention drawn towards the single spot where the lights focused.

"Attention Masters and pets, if you wouldn't mind directing your attention to the center stage, we'd like to present our top dancer for tonight, please keep your eyes open or else you might miss our delicious young boy, Naruto!"

Darkness shot through the room. No one made a sound, but anticipation crawled on the prince's skin. What were they all so anxious for?

A blonde. A beautiful blonde with captivating blue eyes. His tanned skin contrasted beautifully with the outfit he donned. A white corset and matching thong. However, there was something different about this boy which sent pleasurable electricity through Sasuke.

Ah… could it possibly have been the allure the human commanded? His cerulean eyes were depth-less, and rather than stay on the stage, he stepped down those velvety blue stairs with a sultry expression.

The music played softly, no longer a thumping dance tune. Now, it had transformed itself to be a sensual jazz piece led by an alto saxophone.

The way those slim hips swayed as their owner strutted around the tables spelled all. His claiming smile graced very few men, those of which had forgotten about their own performers before them. It was strange, though, that even those boys had trouble keeping focused on their jobs.

And then Naruto came to a halt in front of him. His eyes widened for a slight moment, betraying the playful smile on his lips.

Sasuke watched, entranced, as the angel in white climbed onto his table and perched before him.

The prince could feel the lust rolling off of him in waves.

Demons, particularly those without other bloods to interfere, had the capability to sense emotions. Pure blood came with many perks.

'This one looks like a real wild one… pretty boys always are.'

Then again, be able to read their minds didn't hurt either.

Sasuke chuckled to himself, letting his eyes wander along the boys every slope.

'So he likes me?' The boy thought happily. He sat himself down in front of the dark-haired man and gracefully slipped into his lap, running a hand silkily over the Uchiha's clothed chest.

As he had suspected, wearing his royal attire (dark slacks, a white button up, and a royal blue jacket) definitely attracted humans much more than any slum-like outfits he'd seen the people around here showing off.

He lightly placed his hand on the younger boy's hip, only to hiss in pain as he felt his hair being gripped and his head pulled back. He stared directly into mischievous cerulean eyes, watching as the blonde mouthed, "If you want me, Master, you'll need to pay."

A slender, pink tongue flicked out and licked his face, from the cheekbone to his chin, before the one called Naruto moved elegantly from him back to main stage.

Sasuke watched the reactions of the others in the room, the sudden animosity they felt towards him. There was definitely something special about this single one. But what?

As the angel in white continued his way back up those stairs, he watched, knowing his own libido had been set aflame by the blonde's actions.

Naruto had not visited any other table, and he did not seem to care for more than a simple glance towards them as he slowly, with a wink in his direction, climbed back behind the curtain.

There was a dead silence that filled the area; it almost seemed to want to swallow everyone up, until the crowd burst into applause so loud it hurt the demon's ears.

The rest of the night followed so insignificantly Sasuke had almost no recollection of it. Besides the teenaged Sakura continually coming back to his table and nearly **demanding** that he ask something of him, the raven-haired man did not care for what else happened.

He went back to his hotel that night without a partner or a simple hired boy for his pleasure. He had wasted, well, he couldn't consider his time wasted after the performance from Naruto, _spent_ was more the word he should use. He had spent very little of his time allotted to find his mate, and he hadn't been paying quite close attention to much of anything either. But he knew what exactly he wanted to happen.

**-U R Darkest's Pawn-**

The loud excitement behind in the dressing rooms flowed from the room in unadulterated waves. Tonight had been one of the most highly profited in the last month, most likely because of Naruto's performance.

At the moment, he was one of the most anticipated dancers in the club. Most of the patrons, who seemed to single off a lone boy for their favoritism, arrived early on those nights to ensure they would be treated specially by the blonde.

In the past, Naruto would often sit on their table and wrap himself around their poles (A/N: Not quite yet, loves :D) while they were ordered to remain motionless and witness their self-destruction by his "look, but don't touch" rule.

He had no idea what had possessed him that night, it possibly could have been a drugging by the fog machine. Heaven had been the only witness to the cruel prank which had been played on him when he was first recruited. The older boys had filled the machine with some sort of gaseous hallucinogen and he'd fallen down time and time again that night.

But it could have simply been the attraction he felt to that man.

The moment he'd stepped out onto that stage, his eyes had immediately locked onto the brooding dark-haired man at the back of the room. The way he so sophisticatedly held himself, even while sitting still, had placed him in some sort of trance.

He had walked past all of his usual groupies, including Sai and Neji, and walked straight back to that man's table.

The look on his face as he had approached made him blush. He had hoped the man hadn't noticed, but those onyx eyes had been locked on his face since their gazes had first met. When he'd placed himself into the pale man's lap, the heat which radiated from his slacks had made him hard in an instant. It was only too bad that he wasn't at liberty to relieve himself at that moment while demanding the man thrust into him.

Remembering how pleasantly surprised the man had been when he had tasted his skin, which by the way had been more addictive than any one man's flavor should be, made him feel aroused. His imagine ran wild as thought of what might happen if he were to finally be united with the dark-haired man.

Naruto could easily see them together. In bed, one would think such a restrained man would be an animal, a demon to be cliché. He could see the man's thick length pounding him into the bed, forcing him to beg for more, only to be denied and have his pleasure be served at the dark-haired man's will.

He shivered, the delight of his daydreams surging through him.

"Looks like someone had a bit too much fun dancing on the new customer tonight." a brunette commented as he strutted into the room.

He placed himself into the chair beside the dreaming blonde and laughed pointedly at his problem.

The blonde glanced down and found that his imagination had caused a straining erection for him. Face darkened, he tried to think of other things to get his mind off the deliciously sexy, thick-cocked, pale-skinned...shit. It wasn't working.

"Leave him alone, Kiba. I happen to know that you were quite enjoying your time on Mr. Hyuuga tonight. And you didn't seem to be too concerned with letting him know that." the redhead chided, seating himself on the other side of the blonde.

"Hey, Neji loves me. I think I might even be winning over Naruto in his heart." he replied defensively, his own thoughts running off to chase whatever delusion had formed in his head.

"Right..." Gaara replied doubtingly. The Hyuuga man had practically claimed the blonde boy as his when he'd first stepped into the strip club. There was no tearing that man away when he was focused.

However, after having been introduced to the loud-mouthed Kiba, who indeed did have other redeeming traits like a kick-ass body, he had been persuaded to let himself be served by others.

Sai, on the other hand, was just a mystery. It seemed like the only reason he ever showed up was to infuriate the blonde by touching him without permission. And then he would call him "dickless" and laugh off the whole thing, watching the boy stalk away.

"What happened to your rule, Naruto? I thought you didn't allow unworthy Masters to touch you in any way. Hell, you've never even touched any of them. What makes this one so special?" the redhead pressed, stripping off the maroon vest and matching tasseled shorts he'd been asked to wear that night, trading them in for a white t-shirt and jeans.

"Hmm?" he questioned, finally meeting the green gaze. He'd lost himself in those fantasies again that he hadn't been paying much attention to his friend's questioning.

"W-Well...I don't know." he answered anticlimactically. "Hey Gaara, have you ever just met someone and immediately found an attraction to them? One that you felt you couldn't stop? One that broke all the rules that you might have established?"

The redhead chuckled dryly. "Sounds like you're in love." he deadpanned.

"W-What? But I've never even met the guy! All I did was dance on him and..." he trailed off, the images sapping his thinking capabilities.

"Uzumaki!" Gaara cried, shaking the blonde's shoulders and glaring at him. "Pay attention!"

The blonde laughed sheepishly, rubbing his nape. But he sobered up with another threatening glance from the redhead.

"In love? Is that what it is?" he repeated, disbelief coloring his tone. How could it have possibly been that? He'd felt emotions similar to that before, but they'd been easily distinguishable as mere lust. Wasn't that what this was?

"Yeah. That just about sums it up with all of your daydreams and little Naruto's 'happiness' to keep you company." Kiba quipped with a wide smile.

"Shut up, dog-breath!" the blonde yelled as he lunged at the brunette, tackling him to the floor.

The other boys in the room chuckled at the three and their antics. It was normal commotion to be going on after their shifts. And nothing at that moment could stop their enthusiasm.

**-U R Darkest's Pawn-**

At around two in the morning, his car finally pulled into the driveway of his home. The light in the living room was still on, and he knew there'd by some serious questioning going on.

He drudged up the drive, dreading what his father would have planned for him.

Before he even got a chance to reach for the key, the door swung open and he flinched at the bright light.

Before him, a man of spitting image rested in the doorframe, arms crossed and displeased.

Meekly, he walked past him and placed himself on the couch. His gaze was drawn to anything besides the adult in the doorway and he almost wished he hadn't gone to work that night. Almost; but the memory of the dark-haired man kept him from being fully repentant.

"You weren't supposed to go into work tonight, Naruto." Minato began. "You promised me that you were only going to go twice a month."

"B—" the younger blonde hadn't even gotten a full syllable out before his father interrupted him again.

"I don't care what your grandfather asked you to do! It's horrible! He should realize that you're still in high school, for God's sake! You've got a cooking exam next week and you can't be spending all of this time out of the house, dancing naked for other men!"

"A—"

"It doesn't matter what sort of money you're being paid! I don't approve of this any longer. Tomorrow, I'm going to walk straight up to otousan and let him know that—"

"Dad! Listen to me, please!" he practically yelled.

His father's dark blue gaze, a few shades darker than his own, bore down on him, waiting for the reason he'd interfered with his ranting.

Naruto stared right on back, the irritation of having his thoughts be stolen from right out of his head giving him the proper insolence to be able to follow through with his actions. "I know I said that I'd be only going twice a month, but I want the money. I know that you could easily pay for everything, but I want to be able to be free and have my own control over myself. Can't I at least have this freedom?"

"No, you can't." Minato stated gruffly. "Kushina would agree with me. You're too young to want freedom just yet."

At the mention of his mother, the younger Uzumaki could only purse his lips and pout.

Though she was asleep, and at the moment upstairs, nothing was safe around her. She was a fiery redheaded woman who had the debating strength of the world's best lawyer. It was frightening to live in the same household as her, much less be related...

"You're not fighting back. Why?" the elder blonde inquired suspiciously.

"Dad...I met this really amazing guy tonight. He's handsome and quiet..." It was only a half lie. So he hadn't really met the guy. Details, details...

That softened his father up. His son's love life had been nil since the beginning. The one date he'd ever been able to go out on, it was that slim because he was gay, had turned out a disaster after he'd let slip that he was a demon.

Well, a half-demon. Regardless of that, the boy he'd been in the restaurant with had stared at him dubiously for at least ten minutes before laughing it all off. That was, until Naruto practically read the storm of emotions that was going on within him.

Half-demons, born of a pureblood parent and a human, didn't get the joys of demon-hood. The human blood somehow tampered with the powers and/or abilities a full demon received.

They got maybe one or two of the original capabilities, like being able to read emotions and the ability of influence. Nothing like mind control, to the disappointment of so many horror movie makers, but simple questioning of a person's decisions and disposition. It made them rethink whatever they were doing.

It was plain to see that between father and son there were no secrets to be held.

"Is he coming back to see you?" Minato questioned.

"I-I don't know. But he looked really interested, and I really liked him." he blushed again, just remembering the man's features. He really was beautiful.

"How old is he?" the father inquired.

"Not much older than me…" He couldn't have been. He was too mature-faced to be younger, but too boyish to be older.

"Tomorrow. That is all you have to either get his number or find a way for him to meet you. That is it. And then you're done for the rest of the month. Do you understand me?" the elder blonde ruled, not fully able to continue through with his previous chiding as his son's face lit up.

"Thank you so much, Dad!" he cried as he launched himself towards his father.

They fell the floor in a laughing heap, all other emotions placated for the time being.

**-U R Darkest's Pawn-**

Um, yeah. I'm not much into any other yaoi pairing in the Naruto-verse besides Sasuke/Naruto, but that doesn't mean I'm averse to it. I would much rather have paired Gaara and Neji together, but it our little sandman doesn't seem to be the type to boast and brag, so Kiba got first dibs.

And I'm not entirely sure that Minato would be okay with his son being a dancer at a strip bar, but I would think that he's the understanding type. Kushina...heh. I really want to just freaking meet her in person. She seems like she'd be so AWESOME! And yes, the all-time cliché of Jiraiya as Naruto grandfather has once again been met headfirst (if you didn't get that). If you've got any confusion on the difference between purebloods and half-demons, I'd be willing to answer questions in your reviews or by PM.

This originally was only supposed to be a one-shot, but it sort of got too long for that. Please review or **NO SEX FOR YOU!**

**(1) Amartia: **The westernmost continent in the Underworld – often compared to America in the Mortal World


	2. They Say Women Have Problems

Ashina: Hi, I'm back.

Mirai: As am I. Now slave, beg for the right to speak! (evil laughter)

Ashina: (rolls eyes) Please, Mirai-sama, allow me, your worthless prisoner, to express her thoughts.

Mirai: (muses) Proceed...

Ashina: (exasperated sigh) Please don't kill me if I end up taking a longer time on _Looking for Angels_. I really just wanted a chance to write this.

Mirai: In other words she's just a lazy ass writer.

Ashina: (holds back glare out of fear of being whipped into submission)

**Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, a delicious lemon squeeze... anything else?**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.**

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned. Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot.**

**This chapter has been edited – 20. 01. 11**

**-U R Darkest's Pawn-**

Ashes

The night was heavy on his skin. The blankets, too thick. The darkness, impossibly deep.

He twisted his hand before his face, and despite the light before him, found that he was almost incapable to make out the shape, though it was obvious to any person who had eyes.

"Damn it…" he cursed quietly. His feet touched the hardwood floor of his room, and he groped his way to the door, trying to find the handle.

Once he'd finally accomplished the task of opening the door, which had taken quite a time considering that he'd forgotten that he had locked it in the first place, he stumbled through the hallway to the bathroom. After relieving himself, the trek back to his room was just as hard as it had been to the restroom.

But this time, he had the strangest urge to run back to his room.

His heartbeat slowly gained speed in his chest. His feet shuffled much more quickly than they had before.

And just as he felt as though the presence, whatever it was, had caught him, he leapt into the safety of his bed and pulled the covers over his head. (A/N: I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has done that…)

His body trembled in utterly preposterous fear. There was nothing there. He was being foolish. But no matter how throughout he made a point to convince himself, he couldn't shake the fact that he had indeed felt someone, or something, there.

Once he'd finally swallowed his cowardice, the down was removed from his head and he saw the room perfectly. There, in the corner, was a man staring at him. He was about to scream, as the fear manifested itself in his throat, but realized that the man had disappeared.

In that corner was nothing more than the darkness.

**-U R Darkest's Pawn-**

Naruto woke up, bright and early the next morning to stare at the ceiling.

His mind wandered as he lay in his bed. The image he'd seen last night in the shadows… he had no proof that it was anything besides his imagination.

"Naruto! Wake up right now! If you don't, I will barge into that room and dress you myself!" a loud, female voice shrieked from the hall. A harsh thumping sounded on the poor wooden barrier, causing the blonde to jump.

…Okay, so perhaps he'd not woken up as early as he'd believed.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm up!" he hollered in response.

Once he'd finally made his way downstairs, dressed and fully prepared for the day, he sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen and stared at the body of blurred motion which moved daintily around.

The woman had red hair, quite a contrast to the brilliant blonde he had received, and but her eyes were the exact same as his.

"G'morning, mom..." he said, yawning in the middle of his sentence.

Suddenly, all of the movement stopped. The woman before him turned around very slowly, no expression to be found on her face.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, WORKING LAST NIGHT? I TOLD YOU ONLY ONCE A MONTH! I SWEAR, ONCE I GET MY HANDS ON YOUR GRANDFATHER I'M GOING TO TEAR HIS—!"

"Kushina, dear, it would probably be best if you didn't yell so early in the morning." The man had just made his way around the corner and into the kitchen, adjusting the cuffs on his suit.

"Oh, don't you 'Kushina, dear' me! How could your father consent to this in the first place? I've told him, time and time again that my son will not be stripping at such a young age! Let him wait until college for that, at least!" she fumed, now pointing the finger at her husband who responded with a sheepish look.

"Pops just wants Naruto to have experience in life. Besides, he went along with your guidelines, didn't he?" he shot a desperate look at his son, who cackled silently and began inching his way out of the room.

"Don't you even think of walking away, Naruto Uzumaki!" Kushina jabbed at the younger blonde. "I'm not through with you yet!"

"Mom, I'm gonna be late!"

There was a single moment in which she debated whether to continue to make his ear bleed, but as it was her son's grading term was reaching the peak and it would be best if he weren't deterred.

"Go." she said, with the dismissive wave of her hand.

"Bye Mom, Dad!" he cried as he leapt off the stool.

He had barely made it out the door when he heard his mom turning the blame to his father.

'Sorry, Dad.' he thought remorsefully.

He threw his books in this locker and slammed it shut, scaring the group of freshman walking by.

"Jeez, Naruto, if you're so intent on breaking something, go to the judo room already." a pink-haired boy sighed as he approached the blonde. His bangs, in opposition to last night, now hung over his right eye.

If one had known of his job, it would never have seemed that his personal style fit very well with his occupation. He was wearing a tight-fitting, pale pink shirt and maroon shorts. There was a plaid bow on one side of his head to match his platform shoes.

"Hehe…sorry, Sakura. I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." he replied sheepishly.

The rosette ignored him for a moment as he reached into his locker, the numerous bracelets on his wrist clanging together, before he finally turned to acknowledge the blonde.

"Whatever. Not my problem." That caustic tone disappeared in an instant and his face lit up with excitement. "Oh my gosh! Did you see that gorgeous dark-haired man last night?"

The blonde stared at him, mouth agape, for a few moments. He had seen the dark-haired man too? Damn…

Naruto wanted to smack his forehead for not having realized that the man whom he'd seen last night had been in Sakura's section for serving last night. It was an unfortunate fact that the pinkette had been known to stake claims on the patrons before they'd even had a chance to reveal their name or become a regular customer.

He'd also been known to offer himself up as a means of lending a "hand" (or mouth) to a man that was in need of such assistance.

"Yeah, I saw him." he responded meekly, careful to not let the panic and sudden depression show.

After some years of knowing the Haruno, he'd learned to keep his mouth shut when it came to his own opinion on other men. Sakura didn't tend to take lightly any sort of competition. Hell, he'd fought with his best friend Ino (a pale, blonde girl who often times accompanied them to work) over men. Naruto knew that he didn't stand a chance, and he was the rosette's _first _best friend!

Most of the time, when they indeed shared an interest in males, Sakura tended to win them over because he was the girly and flamboyant gay boy who resembled a woman enough to satiate their libidos.

The pink-haired boy had lost himself in fantasies of the sable-haired customer and didn't notice the pained look of loss on the kit's face.

"How old do you think he was?" Sakura questioned, his facial expression comically torn between curiosity and overwhelming lust. In his usual stance, he had his hands clasped behind his back and he was rocking onto the balls of his feet.

"Eh? Maybe twenty-five? I really don't know." the blonde answered truthfully. When the other boy shot him a dubious look, he nearly shouted back at in exasperation, "Really! I don't! I told you, I can't read minds, only emotions!"

Sakura had known about the kit's blood since they were in elementary school. On one accidental incident, when homework had been lost, Naruto had lent it to him. He'd questioned how the blonde had known about it and it had conveniently slipped about his powers.

Of course, the initial reaction of horror had crossed over the pink-haired boy, and it had hurt the young boy then while the feeling of being rejected had been an alien to live off his innards. It made him sick to his stomach to watch the other boy drift away from him, but Naruto had held himself together, knowing in his mind that the rosette had felt bad about it the entire time.

Eventually it had all blown over and they arrived in school the next year as though it hadn't happened at all.

"Well, regardless, I plan to have him by tonight." he declared, the absolute smitten emotions being reflected in his eyes.

Naruto couldn't fight the sorrow in his heart. He couldn't say anything knowing that he'd just be chided for trying to go for the same guy as his best friend… if only he had said something the night before…

The rest of the day dragged on without end, it seemed. As he sunk lower in his depression, the smile upon Sakura's face seemed to stretch wider than before. He spoke animatedly to the rest of their group, Ino, Hinata (who strangely had become good friends with Naruto, despite the fact that her cousin was one of his patrons at work), Kiba, Gaara, Shino (who also worked at the club with them; it was amazing what sort of face he hid behind that high collar), Tenten, Chouji, Temari, Kankurou, and Lee (who had attempted to try out for the club, but had been denied due to his overwhelming enthusiasm).

By the time school had ended, he felt as though his life was over. As horribly dramatic as that sounded, he truly felt like there was no point in going to work again.

He liked men; hell, he'd thought himself fancied of so many men, his manhood was sore with the amount of passion he held for them. But, this one was different.

No, that didn't mean that there weren't _extreme_ feelings of attraction, just that there were other emotions that seemed more pressing. He didn't want just a quick fuck; he wanted...he wanted a _relationship_.

The word, though unintended in its inflection, was pronounced like an expletive. The unfathomable idea of an _affiliation _with another person, male or female, was ridiculous for a person who used the art of seduction and sensuality to make a living. It was a blasphemous thing for someone like _him _to even begin to _dream_ of a person to remain as his life-long partner. What sort of insane human would allow their possession to flaunt their naked self in front of the eyes of others? Surely not one who was truly serious about their relationship.

He didn't want a single night to be the end of it all... but it seemed like he wouldn't get that night to begin with now, so there was no point in pondering that anymore, was there?

Gaara stared, truly had his gaze locked, on the blonde's emotionless face. He knew exactly what was troubling him. Sakura's exclamation earlier had said that all.

"_I'm going to make that dark-haired hottie mine! And I'll make sure to satisfy him in a way that no one else ever has!" he had cackled confidently, never bothering to realize how his best blonde friend's eyes looked like shattered glass graced by dew._

The kit hadn't cried, and most likely would not, because he wasn't one to do so. When they'd lost their best friend, Shin, in the beginning of the year to a car accident, he had refused to cry. He claimed that was weakness; and if he could withstand the S&M tendencies of perverted males, he could withstand heartbreak.

The redhead tried to convince himself that his friend was perfectly fine, and would recover like he always did. But he could see the cracks in his friend's disposition. He knew, just had this theory drawn up by his intuition, this man could make a difference in his friend's life.

Kiba, on the other hand, had no idea of what was wrong. He was just a complete dork who couldn't read emotions very well. But he knew from experience, and because Gaara flat out told him, that Naruto needed to find a way to meet with this man.

"Do you know if he's coming back tonight?" he asked the redhead to the side. Naruto was far too within his state of overwhelming sorrow that he wouldn't' have been able to hear them even if he was right next to them (he was across the table).

"I don't." Gaara answered truthfully. "We can always ask Jiraiya. I'm sure that he'd be willing to help his grandson out..."

As confidently as he'd claimed that, he wasn't entirely sure. Especially considering how this man had been the one to employ himself and Naruto, though they were underage. The "Sage Master," as he'd been known as, for a reason that no one truly cared, knew only two things: sex and money.

And the strip club he'd developed was a perfect way to spend time with both.

He was anxious to have school end, for once. If anything, helping his friend was something he could truly say made his life worthwhile. The bell rang, finally, and despite the relaxed mannerism he managed to maintain, he was anything but. Once Naruto was well out of hearing distance, Gaara pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number of the club.

"Yeah...?" a slurred answer came.

"Jiraiya, this is Gaara. I need to know the name of the man who came in last night. He was sitting at table thirty-four, in Sakura's section."

There was a rustling of papers in response to his demand, and the red-haired boy had a very hard time not wishing he could jump through the phone and find the information himself.

"Sasuke... Uchiha..."

**-U R Darkest's Pawn-**

Ashina: I'm so bummed that we never get to actually see Kushina's self in the manga. I would assume, however, that it's from her that Naruto has gathered his eccentricity. And I honestly believe that she would have worn the pants in the relationship. Hooray for matriarchal society! And hooray for cliffies! I know I'm being a crappy author, but it's fun! ^^

Mirai: (yawn) Who cares. Time for bowing down to me! (pulls out whip)

Ashina: (cowers in fear) So, uh, yeah. Please review. Before she does terrible things to me!

Dani (Ashina's BFF): Right... You know you like it!


	3. Close, But No Strawberry Lube

Ashina: And here's the next chapter! Thank you very much to my reviewers. You made me very happy. ^^

Mirai: Yeah, yeah, yeah… it's all lies. She wasn't paying much attention to this thing to begin with. She was writing other one-shots that are bound to fail…

Ashina: (glares) You're not a very supportive partner.

Mirai: I wasn't trying to be supportive; I'm trying to shoot down your ego so that I can later take advantage of it… (evil smirk)

Renee: And this is where I come in… (hides Ashina)

Ashina: I thought your name was Dani…

Renee: Details, details… do you want to be saved or not?

Ashina: PLEASE!!!

**Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, a delicious lemon squeeze... anything else?**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.**

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned. Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot.**

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashes

The phone rang for the fourth time in fifteen minutes and the young man was almost ready to break the damn thing against the headboard of his bed.

The curtains were closed, as he refused to allow any sort of light to be let in, so he couldn't tell what time it was. He could have looked at his phone, or at the alarm clock on the stand, but felt that it was a waste of energy and refused to.

_Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt. Bzzz—_

"What?!" he snarled into the phone. Breathing heavily, his anger had barely been contained when he answered the device. Had he known who'd been calling before he'd opened it, that person might have found himself with a greeting of expletives.

"_Who would have known not getting laid disturbed a pureblood so heavily?_" the voice asked, unaffected by the raven's unpleasant answer.

Eyes widened, it took a moment before he could collect his thoughts. "What do you want, Suigetsu?"

"_Che. Geez, thought my ex-fuck friend would have liked my company while searching for his future wife, but I guess not. Seriously, you're parents are insane if they think this'll change anything._"

"I know that, but what the hell…" Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly, knowing full well that the other couldn't see him.

"_Your image hasn't changed since you left you know… most of the men here still think we're together._" The tone of his voice when he mentioned the word 'together' had Sasuke thinking back to their time together.

Out of all the boyfriends he'd had (Karin, Juugo, Kabuto, and Suigetsu), the water sprite had probably been the best in bed. God, he could have probably gone days on end without leaving his room because of how amazingly good he'd constantly felt.

Just remembering the image of the man's thick length ramming into his backside, thrusting silkily into home, and tossing him into the angry ocean of pleasure, made him shiver. (A/N: Yes, Sasu-chan would have been the uke in that relationship)

"It really doesn't bother me. Aside from that, earth's a fucking disaster." he scoffed, turning on the uncomfortable hotel bed to try to alleviate the pain in his back. "Seriously, all of the men here are either too damn girly or they're dumbasses. And the women…"

"_Just shoot me, right?_" the other man assumed. The Uchiha could hear the smile in his voice. "_Don't worry; I'm sure that I can get at least the basis of what you're feeling. Seriously, those women up there look like they got hit by buses. Not even the models are decent._"

"Not everyone's that bad, I can assure you of that…" The raven tried to contest, his mind slowly drifting.

"_You…You've already found someone?_" the other man repeated in a tone of complete disbelief.

The Uchiha smirked as placed one arm behind his head. The picture of a blue-eyed, blonde floated to his head. The soft curves of his hips, the darkened shadows of his skin which seemed like the richest caramel…he wasn't particularly one for sweets, but this was one dessert that he wouldn't mind submersing himself in for a while.

"_Somebody better fucking stop taking drugs…_" The albino snorted. When he didn't get a response from his friend, Suigetsu felt slightly panicked. "_Seriously, you've actually found someone already?_"

"Yes."

"… _So why haven't you come back home yet, then?_"

"Let's just say that I haven't had the chance to ensnare him yet." the raven confessed nonchalantly.

"_You mean to say that you haven't been able to even talk to him?_" the water sprite chuckled. "_What do you know…so there are people who can resist the Uchiha charm?_"

"No, there aren't." Sasuke shot back, an arrogant smirk on his face.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

"What did you want to talk about, Gaara?" the blue-eyed boy mumbled, letting the spoonful of ice cream fall back into the cup. He wasn't much for eating at the moment. And he hadn't been all day.

"Well, I was talking to Lee and apparently that new game you were talking about just came out and he wanted to know if you had the time to come over and play with him. He got the special edition with the extra characters from the first one that you can unlock." He began. There was hardly a change in the blonde's expression. So the redhead decided that it was time to pull out the big guns. "Stop moping, Uzumaki. It's not going to do anything."

"Did you really come here to bully me?" the blonde whined.

"No. That's not what I wanted to do. I wanted to tell you that Uchiha Sasuke told me that he intended to return tonight."

The smaller boy said nothing. He didn't bother to look up. He didn't bother to comment. That name meant nothing to him.

Wanting to slap his forehead for not thinking this through, the tanuki continued, "Uchiha Sasuke is the one you so graciously displayed yourself to last night."

With a gasp that revived the rest of his emotions, Naruto looked towards the other boy who now had an all-knowing air about him. "Are you sure he's coming back tonight?" he pleaded with eyes that swore to kill himself if that were just a cruel joke.

"He spoke directly to Jiraiya-san and asked him to reserve a seat for him tonight. I'm sure that you made a good impression on him last night because from what I was told of their conversation, he it seemed like he wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer. He's going to be there tonight. You have a chance now." the redhead said, trying to invoke a more Naruto-like emotion into the blonde in front of him.

"He's going to be there…he's coming to see…me?" the kit mumbled. But it couldn't be possible that the gorgeous man had seen him too. It couldn't be possible that someone who he liked had chosen him. It couldn't be possible that someone like that could have chosen him over Sakura…

"By the way, I was watching him all last night and it didn't seem like he cared much for Sakura. He tried, the little slut, but Uchiha didn't take much interest. So, stop moping around here and get your hyper ass to the club so we can set up."

"Absolutely!" the blonde yelled, scaring Gaara. "Thank you so much, you bitchy tanuki!!"

Tanned arms wrapped themselves around the pale mans' waist. Without warning, or a chance for Gaara to catch his breath from the sudden attack, Naruto had taken off in the direction of his car.

The redhead sighed to himself, that was Naruto; easily able to bring himself to smile for even the slightest bit of happy news. But it made him glad to finally see his friend in high spirits, and he swore that he was going to do everything that he could to ensure his happiness.

-----

It was nine 'o clock at night and Naruto was waiting anxiously behind the stage. Had the dark-haired man return?

The urge to peek around the curtain was increasingly tempting by the seconds. If he didn't find out soon, he was sure his sanity was going to be destroyed.

When Gaara walked back behind the shade, Naruto immediately latched onto him like a leech, practically choking him with the hold he commanded on his clothing.

"Is he here?!" He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, threatening to jump out of his throat and run away.

When the redhead remained quiet, the blonde noticed how he couldn't feel his heart any more. It was as though it had disappeared. So much for the hope of love at first sight… It wasn't like it would matter after tonight. He'd be out of the club for at least another month and life would continue on as it had before…

He felt his world plummeting…it was going to be hopeless now to find someone as—

"He's at the same table as last night." Gaara finally said.

With a gasp, the kit once again flung himself to the curtain in just enough time to see the dark-haired man gazing off into space.

There was an abnormally loud thumping radiating from his chest. God, he was nervous. For the first time since he began, he was nervous as Hell. This time, he wouldn't' have the chance to go straight for him. Neji and Sai, well mostly Neji, hadn't been too happy that the blonde hadn't visited them the previous night. They had paid their amounts to come see _him_ specifically, and he wasn't known to disappoint.

Well, he'd get there sooner or later.

He gave himself a one-over, trying to determine whether his outfit was presentable enough for the man. He'd traded the white corset in for a wispy red top that puffed around his shoulders and barely went below his chest. (A/N: Think a genie type outfit.) His pants were also a gauzy crimson flaunting his black underpants.

He smiled at his choice of apparel. A very wise one for seducing the man he had fallen for. If he was lucky, maybe he could save his best performance for last.

Dimly, in the back of his head, he heard the introduction for him and he slid onto the stage. A different tune played for him today, and he did his very best to keep his eyes off the back of the room, for fear the butterflies in his stomach would take over again and cause him to make a fool of himself.

He met the pale gaze of the Hyuuga man. A soft smile played on his lips and he swung around the pole, coming close enough to the brunette to demand a slight sigh before he began to twirl again. His hips progressed up the pole and he opened his legs wide enough for the man to get a glimpse of his parts before he shot back up and moved on.

Carefully this time, expecting some sort of hell from this one, he moved towards Sai's table. The way the artist, he often brought his drawing tools with him to watch Naruto dance, eyed him down made him uneasy.

He climbed up the cold pole, careful of the ink container and old Japanese-style brush, and ran his finger down his chest and stomach, the metal pressed against his back. His finger played with his nipples, stroking them with the most sensitive of touches, and he watched, pleased, as the man's eyes glazed over, struck by his performance.

'Finally!' he thought as he moved to the back. He could see a smirk playing on the raven's lips and he could feel the enjoyment radiating off of him. Good. He'd warmed him up well.

He didn't bother to climb on the table this time. Rather, he chose to place himself right beside the dark-haired man. His finger traveled across the man's cheekbone, touching it lighter than a moth's wing, before he pulled himself onto the edge of the stand.

He grabbed the pole in his hand tightly and spun around it, pressing his body and practically caressing it with his inner thighs before he slowly maneuvered so the top he was displaying fell off and onto the table. He bent down, his rear facing the Uchiha, and picked it up making sure to linger in his doubled position.

He flung the red fabric off the table with the flick of his foot. It landed on a table between his two former patrons and they glared at each other for a single moment, then they lunged at it, distracted from the next move the blonde had planned.

Naruto slid his pants down, lingering his touch on his caramel thighs, to his ankles and kicked them off. His body moved of its own accord now. Before he could stop himself, he had already straddled the dark-haired man and wrapped his arms around his neck.

The Uchiha knew better than to allow his temptation to be given into. Despite how close those voluptuous lips were to his face, despite how the distance between their hips was almost nothing, he was absolutely forbidden from…

His thoughts, and reasoning, suddenly disappeared as he felt his semi-hard manhood being grinded on.

The blonde smiled victoriously as he felt the complete joy practically oozing out of the man. When he heard a soft, very faint mewl come from him, all the power in the world could not have possibly done any good to replace what he felt.

Beneath him, he could feel the hardened bulge rubbing so suggestively against his entrance and he couldn't fight his own noise.

"So, Master, I hope you have the time for me. I'd definitely be willing to _assist_ you in your search for that someone…" he trailed off, realizing that his inflection had caused a lustful mindset for the beautiful raven.

He flinched when a hand landed on his waist, but recovered quickly enough to realize that the man had come close enough to his ear. The warm breath washing over his sensitive spot caused him to shiver ever so slightly.

"Don't worry, I intend to get my fill." the man whispered before his lips enclosed on the lobe, sucking so delicately that it caused a tremor to shoot through his entire being.

'More…' he thought wantonly.

The Uchiha would have happily submerged the younger boy in all of his wild fantasies, but there was only so much he could allow himself when there were glares burning holes in his head and threatening to kill him.

Slowly, he released the kit and watched as he moved away, slightly off balance, to the main stage. He disappeared behind the curtain without a chance to say goodbye to any of the people.

This night had been so much more than he could have possibly ever believed.

And it was surely only to get better.

He didn't know it, but behind the stage, Naruto had collapsed the moment he'd gotten out of sight. His heart was pounding in his chest, practically choking him with the speed it generated. The adrenaline that had raced through him and given him the brazen confidence to attempt that was now gone, and the shock set in.

He couldn't believe himself.

He practically… he _had_attempted to have dry sex with the man! What kind of behavior was that?! What happened to all the laws he'd placed down for everyone, including himself?! This man, Uchiha Sasuke, was messing with all the dynamics of his life!

-----

"Excuse me, Jiraiya-san." A rich voice said, jerking the elder man out of his zone he'd been in.

Quickly switching the page he'd been looking at, of course something ecchi, to a search domain he turned to the man. "Y-yes, Uchiha-san?"

"If you wouldn't mine, I'd very much appreciate it if you could give your entertainer; the blue-eyed, blonde one." He said smoothly, a small piece of white paper sticking out from his pointer and middle finger.

"Naru-chan? Of course. Uchiha-san, if you don't mind me asking, why him? I'm sure that one of our waiters would be better suited for you. Sakura-chan is a good candidate…" he trailed off, a troubled expression on his face. He could only imagine what sort of wrath he'd have to face from his daughter-in-law if her son were to have to spend another night out with another man.

"I'm not interested in someone who is excessively flamboyant. Besides, your kitsune has been rather _kind_ to me since I showed up. Now, if you wouldn't mind."

The Uchiha set down the piece of folded up paper on the man's desk and walked out the door with finesse, leaving behind an extremely confused Jiraiya.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashina: Jiraiya would address Sasu-chan as "-san" because of his respect for his customers. No, he does not know that Sasu-chan is the Underworld prince. And if you haven't made the connection yet, Jiraiya is Naruto's grandfather. I'll explain further the whole reasoning and back story if you'd like in either the review reply or PM.

Renee: Your freakish tendencies scare me.

Ashina: That's not nice, ya know? I didn't hire you to talk bad about my obses—passions.

Renee: (scoffs) Passion, right…

Mirai: (clanks bars on cage) Can I come out now? I promise… wow, I can't promise anything…

Both: NO!

Ashina: Please review as you have before. And thank you very much for reading!


	4. Attention deficit—oh shiny!

Ashina: Jell-o! To my lovely reviewers and readers, I'm so amazed with the response I've gotten to this story! Seriously, I could have never imagined that I would already be at forty-four reviews by the third chapter! This actually came out a little later than I had intended it to, so yeah. Here is chapter four of Ashes!

Renee: You really have no life, do you? (shakes head in dismay)

Ashina: Shut up! I just happen to like writing!

Mirai: Oh, give it a rest. (fans self) Seriously, it's way too hot for you to be yelling, so shut the hell up! It's like a hundred degrees here and your stupidity is making it hotter!

Ashina: (huddles in the corner with Renee) (whispers) _Someone's _PMS-ing.

Renee: (whispers) I know. How lame…

Mirai: I CAN STILL FREAKIN' HEAR YOU!! If I wasn't still in this horrible contraption, you'd both be suffering, cowards!

**Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, a delicious lemon squeeze... anything else?**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.**

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned. Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot.**

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashes

Naruto, hand covering his heart to try to slow its heavy beating, began walking back to the changing rooms as soon as he'd collected himself enough to realize that he was still behind the stage. But that didn't mean that his head was clear enough to give him warning when a metal pole was suddenly placed in his way.

'That wasn't there before, was it?' he thought miserably, rubbing his forehead where he knew a nice shiner was bound to show up.

But that pain in his head brought him back to his original problem. This man, the dark-haired one that had already begun to cloud his thoughts with his mere presence, was easily taking over his life. Every thought somehow related back to him.

The darkened hallways that led to the dressing room for the entertainers grew overheated. Notwithstanding the fact that there was no air conditioning, he could feel small beads of sweat begin to gather on his forehead and the base of his neck. The heat whisked across his skin, the length of his arms, the back of his neck, underneath his shirt.

He let out a breathless gasp, unknowingly, and felt himself slumping against the wall in blissful contentment. Oh, the feather-light touches that continued to traverse his body…

The kit lifted his head when he heard his name called, all of those strange emotions gone. Gaara was walking his way with a small crumpled paper in his hand.

"Jiraiya-san asked me to give this to you." he said.

Grasping it in his hand, Naruto felt a certain warmth radiating off it. One that made his heart skip a beat. "The old perv wanted me to have this? Why?"

Confused when his friend simply shrugged, he flattened it out.

_Call me._

_900-X-XXXX-XXX_

_Sasuke._

Suddenly, the air in his chest disappeared, leaving him disoriented and lightheaded.

No. Fucking. Way.

"I-Is this from…?" choking on his words, he could only convey his message through pleading sapphire eyes.

"Jiraiya-san said that a raven-haired man simply walked into his office and asked him to give you this number. It could possibly be your prince charming." the redhead deadpanned.

"Sh-Shut up." Naruto flushed, a sedated smile crawling over his visage as he glanced down at the number he'd received. Silently, he thanked whatever god had bothered to give him this chance.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

The Uchiha smirked, letting his hands settle in his laps. In his hotel room, surrounded by the dim lights that were his only company, he allowed himself a short chortle. Though his fingers were no longer glowing bright blue as they had been, he could still feel that soft, supple skin beneath the tips.

Another power that had come in handy and the stem of so many ghost stories: being able to have supernatural consistency in touching someone or something. It sounded stupid and childish if one was to think about it and if a child were to indeed put that into effect, poking someone from a distance was a riot.

But Sasuke didn't bother using if for that reason. No, he was cheating. He longed to touch the young blonde. He wanted so much just to feel him beneath and to know every curve of the boy's body.

Fighting the arousal that was slowly coming alive, he started to turn out the lights when he heard the sound of his cell phone vibrating on the bedside table.

A smile flashed onto his face as he saw it was a number that he didn't recognize.

"Hello?" he answered amiably. No one should have his number in this realm. And anyone who might have called him most definitely was recorded in his phone for fear that his stalkers in the Underworld might try to contact him and badger him into a date or something of the sort.

"_Hi, Sasuke. I'm Naruto; you gave me your number at the club."_

A male voice, lulling but having a slight rasping growl to it, had responded to him. And god, how wonderfully alluring that voice was. The voice he'd wanted to hear for the longest time, and now it was quite available to him.

"Hi, Naruto."

Fighting back the giddy giggle that threatened to reveal his utter elation at the moment, the blonde inhaled before responding.

"_So yeah, I just thought I'd, um, call you." _He laughed sheepishly, a sound that sounded like the silver of a wind chime to the prince on the other end.

"Dobe, did it occur to you that it's nearly midnight?" the raven smirked, allowing his arrogance to seep in. How cute. The kit was trying to hide his excitement, and failing miserably. But that didn't bother the raven. He wanted to keep hearing this golden stream continue to bubble forth it's tales.

"_Oh…uh, I guess not. Sorry."_ Sounding put out, he apologized. With sheer effort that seemed Herculean, he pulled himself back into his usual demeanor.

"It's fine, usuratonkachi. I wasn't asleep, so I'm not mad or anything." The infamous smirk crossed his face, arrogance spewing out of him in an overwhelming fountain.

"_Don't call me a dumbass, teme!"_

"So the dobe knows Japanese? Impressive… for a dobe." Knowing that he was egging on the blonde on the other line just gave him more reason to continue in his teasing.

"_Augh! You're such a jerk!" _A frustrated frown tugged at the corners of Naruto's mouth. There went his hypothesis of finding the perfect guy. This asshole was cocky, and to make matters worse utilizing it for his own bastardly purposes.

"That would be the reasoning behind my ever-so-creative nickname, right?"

His voice, velvety and seductive, continued to insult the blonde. Neither of them realized how much time had passed until, on Naruto's end the lights began to turn off. He blinked in surprise, not understanding that the club was shutting down and that he'd spent too much time talking on his phone.

"Is there something wrong, dobe?" the prince asked, noticing the unusual silence on the other end. Already, he'd marked the blonde as a very talkative and energetic person.

"_Um, well, the club is closing down, and I don't think that the owner would be too happy with me being here by myself after he locks up."_

"Has that happened before?" the raven asked, his interest piqued.

"_Well, one time when there was a newer boy who didn't like me, I got knocked out and was stuck here until Jiraiya found me." _His sheepish tone gave Sasuke the impression that he was embarrassed that it'd happened and thought that it was his own fault, instead of blaming the other boy for it.

"Dobe, that—"

"_I've gotta go, teme. My parents are probably waiting for me back home. I'll talk to you later, okay?"_

"Fine, dobe. Goodnight." he said, voice slipping into the alluring sound he knew would snare the blonde.

"'_Night…"_ the blue-eyed boy responded breathlessly.

Both ended the call at the same time, their minds lingering on the same thought: I want him.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

"Oyaji!" the blonde yelped as he entered their house, nearly tripping and cracking his head open over the coffee table in his excitement. "Kaa-san!"

Being the airhead that he was, it didn't occur to him that it was nearly three in the morning and that his parents were most likely asleep. And the thought never seemed to reach him as he continued to yell until his father, clad in his robe and boxers, followed by his mother, also wearing her robe, came down the stairs and were met with their radiant and excited son.

"What is it, Naruto? It's too late for you to be yelling. You might wake up the neighbors." Minato slurred, eyes shying closed at the bright light that intended to blind him.

"I talked to him! He gave me his number!" he shouted, jumping excitedly like a small child presented with candy.

"Who, exactly?" the redheaded woman questioned, eyes that matched his own piercing his gaze.

"Sasuke." Naruto replied with a smile on his face. Unable to keep the loopy smile off his face, he relayed the conversation he'd had with said man to his parents, unaware of their slowly forming frowns.

-----

In their bed together, with their son asleep in the room at the end of the hallway, the two adults of the house found themselves unable to sleep.

Rolling onto his side again, Minato struggled to find a comfortable position to lay himself in to drift off to sleep.

_Sasuke._

_Sasuke._

_Sasuke._

The name itself shot warning bells and whistles off in his head. He knew that name. God, it was all-too-familiar. He couldn't remember how, or why, he knew the name, but he did recall that along with it came too much pain and dirty work to be considered healthy.

"Dear... what's wrong?" Kushina asked in a soft voice, her hand caressing her husband's face.

"I'm afraid of what Naruto might have gotten himself into." He admitted.

But what his son had gotten himself into had yet to make itself known to him.

With his wife in his arms, his vault of memories continued to be nitpicked apart, searching for some clue that might allow him rest.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

An urge swept over him. The words his teacher was saying no longer made sense to him. All he could think about was the raven-haired man, Sasuke, who was somewhere in town. Without bothering to check if the woman was looking in his direction, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text message to the number he'd saved in his contacts.

_Sasuke?_

He fought the temptation of checking whether the message had been delivered, as anxious as he was, for fear that his teacher would figure out that he was texting. The single vibration from his phone nearly sent his heartbeat to an inhuman pace.

_Dobe._

_What are you doing right now?_

When Hanai-sensei called his name, he looked up in a panic, afraid that the women had seen his phone out. It was fortunate, however, that she'd merely asked him a question about the problem on the white board concerning someone named Galileo… what a stupid name.

The quivering of his mobile in his lap brought him back to the task at hand.

_Nothing. Aren't you in school, dobe?  
_

_Yeah, so? And don't call me that! At least I'm not a teme like you!_

_Because being an idiot is __**so**__ much better than being me._

_It is… once in a while._

_Shouldn't you be focusing on your class?_

_No, not really. We're talking about the universe. It's really boring._

_Dobe, do you know anything about the universe? Do you even know what planet we're on?_

_Duh, we're on Pluto; my favorite planet._ (A/N: For those poor souls who still don't know, [um, wow] he's wrong on both accounts. Make Pluto a freaking planet again, you assholes! Children have learned that for a long time! I even sang a freaking song for the planets in the third grade! You made all of that memorizing for the goddamn musical pointless!)

Sasuke, absolutely not used to having people joke with him, felt his rationality die a little bit. Why, oh why, had he fallen for such a complete idiot? Though, it could have possibly been for the dumb glee that seemed to just spew out of every pore in his body that had attracted him… it was definitely something to admire.

When the blonde didn't receive a response, he began to panic. Had he driven the man off?

_It was a joke, teme._

…_of course it was, usuratonkachi._

_So..._

_..._

Naruto sighed. Talking with this man was so difficult, especially considering the fact that he had no idea what to say. He'd seen Sasuke all of two times, and though their intimacy so far was more than should be considered proper for having met only twice, he didn't know anything about the raven. He didn't know what his favorite color was, he didn't know where he lived, he didn't know where he'd gone to school or where he'd grown up... there were too many pieces missing for him to feel fully comfortable in the situation.

He sighed, resisting the tapping motion his fingers ached to carry out. Why the hell was the teme so slow at texting? Seriously, didn't he know how to type any faster?

_Dobe, this is getting old, so I'm leaving. Focus on school._

_Wait! What's your favorite color?_

Sasuke scowled owlishly at his mobile phone. Did the blonde have ADOS (A/N: "Attention deficit—oh shiny!" It's something I myself suffer from. Symptoms include randomness and annoyingness) or something? How could he have not realized that the conversation had been intended to end? Unless… was this just a sign of someone wanting to actually know him? Could this possibly be the first occurrence of someone longing to get close to him without going straight to the sex? It baffled him, because in all of his life he'd never met someone like that. Most of the men he knew only wanted to fuck him, to receive their release while acknowledging that they were sleeping with the prince. Others only wanted to know that they were _being_ fucked by the prince.

Maybe Naruto just wanted to keep talking because he wanted to get to know him. As absolutely unfathomable as it was, he didn't want to turn it away in hopes that he wasn't over-thinking the situation.

_It's blue._

_Hmm… that makes sense. You're so sexy, teme, so blue fits you. :)_

_How'd you make that connection, usuratonkachi?_

_Blue is sultry and calming, like you. It makes a person really relaxed._

_It doesn't seem to be working on you, though._

_I guess I'm just special._

The raven snorted._ Special. Right._

_Don't get any ideas, teme. :P_

_Hn. So what's your idea of a good date?_

_Oh, looking for pointers? ^^_

_Of course, dobe._

Naruto smiled as they continued chatting, the dismissal of the conversation suddenly forgotten.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashina: And CUT! (snaps that thingy they use on sets to end a take) Great job, people! Very good acting! Now, we'll take a break, and begin filming the next episode in a couple of hours. Please don't stray too far from the set.

Renee: You heard her! The bastard, the blondie, the bitch with the pink hair, and the guy who needs eyebrows, you're needed for the next episode, so it's absolutely necessary that you stick around.

Naruto: Aww… what a cute human! (makes baby faces at Mirai)

Mirai: (snarls)

Renee: Blondie! I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tease the animal. She gets riled up very easily. And I'm trying to protect Ashina's virtue… well, what I can salvage.

Mirai: I'm not an animal! I'm a normal human being with hormones that just _sometimes_ get out of hand!

Ashina: Don't forget to review and thank you very much for reading! And if you wouldn't mind, there's a poll on my account concerning my _ancient_ story Seemingly Enough.


	5. Does it Matter Which Hand I Use?

Ashina: Hi-Hi! I'm back earlier than normal! Seeing as "Looking for Angels" hasn't been really getting too much support, it's on hold for a little while so I can work on this. For those of you here who read it… you are poopies for not reviewing. (pouts)

Mirai: Ignoring her… Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! We love you!

Renee: (comforting Ashina) It's okay, babe. I'm sure it's just a slump. Now, focus! (slaps her on the back)

Ashina: OUCH!

Renee: It was a love tap. (walks away)

Ashina: Meanie… Well, here we go! Because you were all so wonderful, I put in a special treat.

**Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, and some fun in this chapter… ^^ And you all need to keep in mind that if this is going too quickly, Sasuke only has a week to capture Naruto's heart and let him know about their marriage. Besides, Naruto is quite comfortable with fast-paced activities, considering how his job requires not only a lack of self-consciousness but also a willingness to give oneself up to a complete stranger if asked. In addition, I know nothing about judo, so forgive me if everything is a little too flimsily described. It's not really a big part of the plot to begin with. You're welcome to correct me, however.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.**

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned. Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot.**

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashes

"—and so Nozomi told Ino that she should stop throwing up so much and maybe she'd look normal. God, I could kill that girl." the pinkette declared, running his fingers through his hair. Standing against the wall of the judo studio, Sakura watched as his blonde friend worked on his techniques with a kouhai. The sifu had asked him many times just to join them but his excuse for refusal, regardless of the fact that he spent most of his time there when not at school or work, was simply that he didn't want to ruin his hair.

"That doesn't sound like Nozomi-san," The kit protested, holding his hand out to the boy he'd knocked down. "She's a lot kinder than that, Sakura-chan. I'm sure of it."

"Che. Doesn't matter if it sounds like her or not, she said it. I know it. She's not one to talk, though. She says she's only one-hundred and ten pounds but I bet you she's curbing it. She's probably somewhere in the thirties… I've seen that fat she tries to shove in her shirts… who's she to say Ino isn't normal, huh?" Sakura crossed his arms across his chest, glaring burning holes into the mats.

Turning away from him momentarily, Naruto instructed the younger boy and corrected his stance before dismissing him.

"Thanks, Naruto-nii! I promise I'll practice hard! Just see! Next time we spar, I'll beat you!"

"Sure, Konohamaru. Just make sure to get home before your gramps gets his diaper in a bunch, okay?"

The brunette nodded vigorously before gathering his bag and taking off to the showers.

"And make sure to tell him I said hi!" the blonde tacked on, not sure if the younger boy hear him or not. He smiled as he began to walk over to the wall where his water bottle sat next to his friend. Taking a few swigs, he turned to address the pink-haired boy who was still concerned with task.

"Look, Sakura-chan, are you sure you didn't mishear what happened?"

Green eyes regarded him angrily, threatening to tear him in half if he continued to question any further.

"O-Okay… gosh. I was only asking."

"Well, stop asking. It's getting annoying."

There was no further speak on the topic, and an uncomfortable silence settled over them. That had occurred quite often during the day. And Naruto couldn't possibly fathom why. Well, truthfully, it could have possibly been due to the fact that Sakura had confided in him, without knowing or assuming, that the dark-haired man who'd visited their workplace two days in a row had ignored him and his attempts to flirt.

Naruto lamented, weakly, with him for a moment before moving the conversation in the direction of a safer topic.

What would he do once he had to tell Sakura that he was contacting the man the pinkette thought was up for grabs still? What would he say when he told him that they were in a mutually exclusive relationship? How would he explain that he'd fallen _hard_ for the raven?

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

"Yah!" A cry shot through the air with the force Konohamaru wanted to inflict in the movement. He threw his older brother figure over his shoulder with a swift motion.

And Naruto, stupidly, like a newbie, stuck his hand out to try to cushion the fall rather than roll out of it.

'_CRACK'_

The agonized cry of the kit rang through the dojo, causing all the occupants to freeze. He fell onto his back, his left arm clutched to his chest as he howled in pain over the injury. Almost immediately, every person surrounded him to observe what had happened, Sakura and his sifu pushing through the crowd to reach him first.

He didn't bother to sit up as his teacher reached for his hand and began to test its strength. He hissed when the older man tried to bend it up or down. The pain was so severe, it shot into his entire hand and caused him to bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood, in order to prevent the string of expletives he truly wanted to let loose.

"I'd say you probably broke your wrist, Naruto-kun. We should call your parents and let them know." His kind eyes looked upon his student with sympathy, knowing how hard it must be to have to fall on his parents when he was so independent and capable.

The blonde nodded numbly, his mind being trapped by the fact that he was going to have to sit out of his practice for quite a while.

Why now?! Now when he needed as much distraction from the pale man as possible? He'd go insane with all of this free time and thought potential!

Reality couldn't sympathize with him, however, as the resulting x-ray his father had taken him for confirmed what his sensei had told him. The plaster he'd have to encase his hand for the next month was painfully irritating and at the same time depressing.

No…!

On the car ride home, Minato observed how blank his son's thoughts were. Or, rather, how hidden they were. He had a feeling that the younger boy had temporarily locked up any thoughts that had threatened him during the day, to be contemplated later. As much as he wanted to know what was plaguing his offspring, he couldn't just barge into his son's head. His talent didn't work that way…

But he'd be lying if he said he didn't wish it would.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Naruto fell asleep immediately upon arriving home, flopping onto his bed without concern for his clothes.

And the dream that greeted him made him so glad that he had.

_Fingers lightly traced down his chest, and he arched off the bed, gasping when he felt those cold tendrils grip his hips._

_A pair of soft lips pressed feather-light kisses over his neck, up his jaw, before encountering his mouth and claiming it for a mind-numbing kiss. He could feel the other's tongue thrust itself inside and begin to war with his own, battling for dominance. A strong flavor, the mixing of mint and vanilla, choked him a good way. Made him think of absolutely nothing but that aroma. Made his mind go blank with the thought and his body completely submit to the sensations._

"_S-Sasuke…" he moaned breathlessly._

"_Hn. Dobe." A feral-like growl rose in the raven's chest as his patience ran thin. Without concern for their location, he flipped said dobe onto his stomach, two slim foreign objects suddenly penetrating him and stretching his sphincter._

"_Nn… You're so _tight_, dobe."_

_The raven's fingers thrust inside of him, building a pace until those soft walls began to grab at him. The muscles of the kit's ass began to twitch hungrily, trying to pull him in farther, deeper to his core._

"_You're such a slut…"_

_Despite always having a problem with being called such names (slut, whore, bitch… just because of his occupation didn't mean that he __**had**__ to sleep with the men he agreed to), when Sasuke said it to him, he felt himself willing to hear it. It even kind of turned him on, if the moan that erupted from his throat the minute the words reached his ears was any indication._

_He gasped when he felt the tip of the other's manhood pressed to his hole. So close…_

"_Hurry… please!" he begged, grinding backwards into that heat._

_He knew that the raven was just as impatient as him with the way he passionately took his lips for a long and sweet kiss as he—_

'_BEEP, BEEP, BEEP'_

Cerulean eyes slipped open, still half-mast due to being woken up out of possibly the best, no it _was _the best, dream he'd ever had in the history of all his dreams.

Why did it have to end there!?

Beside his bed, on the nightstand, his phone was glowing brightly thanks to the text message with had been sent to him. Next to it, the alarm clock claimed it was a quarter past midnight. Glaring at them, not even bothering to reach for his phone to reply, as though that would somehow get back at the jerk who'd texted him in the first place, he sighed and shifted, gasping as his painfully engorged erection made its presence known.

Thank god his good hand hadn't been affected…

He didn't regret allowing his thoughts to slip back towards Sasuke. That had been one of the most pleasing fantasies of all time and the proof was straining against his boxers.

Hesitantly, he allowed his hand to crawl beneath and grasp that hot rod, gasping as he made contact.

He moved slowly in an up-and-down motion, hips thrusting forward into the encasing grip of his hand.

One slender tanned finger teased the tip and he shuddered in delight.

"Ah!" Hips thrusting into his hand, he tried to speed up the pleasure, still caught up in his imagination. Sasuke… was gripping him in his palm, was teasing him, relishing his reactions, worshiping his body…

**"_You and me ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel—"_**

"Shit." He cursed, reaching with his injured hand, the other one still busy with the task at hand, he flipped open the cell, with much difficulty due to the cast, and panted into it. "H-Hello?"

"_Hey, blondie… What exactly are you doing right now that makes it sound like you've just finished running a marathon?"_ Kiba asked, slightly confused by his friend's hard time catching his breath.

"N-Nothing." He bit his lip to fight back the moan that threatened to accompany the tightening in his stomach. "What do you want?"

"_Well, your prince charming came in tonight again, looking for you. Guess he didn't know your schedule. Looked pretty disappointed when you didn't show up."_ The dog-lover sniggered on the end, as he remembered how the royal-looking man had frowned in dissatisfaction with the nonappearance of the kit.

"Really?!" he half-shouted, his interest piqued. The other half of that shout was the moan he'd managed to disguise. Just a little more…!

"_Yeah…"_ Kiba responded slowly, somewhat disturbed by his friend's enthusiasm. Over just a guy? _"He asked me about you once everything was over and I told him that his little pet wasn't working. Your prince charming is so cute when he's upset!"_

The image of Sasuke pouting, of simply being upset with the fact that they weren't near each other, of the (perhaps) sadness of not seeing the blonde…

Naruto could see those onyx eyes glistening with emotion…

His hand sped up, spurred by the mere thought. Sasuke loving him so deeply even though they had only known each other for three days… Sasuke wanting him regardless of that time frame…

"Sasuke!" he yelled, hips thrusting one final time as he came into his hand. Panting heavily, ears practically ringing with his loud heartbeat, he was oblivious to the awkward silence on his friend's end.

"_Dude! You've been talking to me while you jacked off?! So I've lost even the respect to have your full attention when I talk?!"_

"Couldn't… help it. Sasuke…" Unable to form full sentences due to spasms of pleasure that generated from his now limp member, he focused on trying to regain his breath before explaining anything else.

"_What about the Uchiha? Don't tell he's there now!"_

"WHAT?!" the blonde shouted, completely taken aback, his flaccid and bare penis slipping from his mind. "No, it's just that—never mind!"

Naruto flushed a heavy pink, recalling certain scenes of his dream. Of Sasuke's dark eyes shining with lust, of his soft hands caressing every inch of his body with such accuracy, of a smile that seduced him and assured him of sexual prowess.

"_But you wish he was there, don't you?"_ An evil smile was evident in the dog-lover's voice.

"You're an ass… you know that?" The blonde bit out, trying to keep the blush from arising too darkly, for fear that his friend could actually see it.

"_No, you're just too predictable." _The dog-boy laughed on the other line. _"Was your dream that good?"_

"Y-Yes…" Naruto truly didn't want to talk masturbation with his friend, especially when it about a certain raven-haired man who'd captured his heart with only two meetings. "Now what did you call for? Seriously, I'd like to get back to sleep."

"_I see how it is… can't manage to stay awake for your best friend, but when it comes to your fantasy man you're all eyes."_ Kiba said dramatically, faking a withered voice. _"Oh, and speaking of best friends, your other one is being something of a slut now… not that he wasn't a slut before, but still."_

"What do you mean by that?" the blonde asked in a puzzled tone. He didn't have to ask who they were talking about, Sakura was the only other person who worked with them and he definitely had made his way around, but he didn't understand what the pinkette could have possibly done to change his status from slut to super slut.

"_Well, he kissed your mystery man."_ Kiba felt regret flood him instantly as he felt the temperature drop through the phone. He knew that Naruto was all heart, knew that he wore it on his sleeve like some sort of proud pendant or badge, and he should have realized that telling his friend this information would break him. But the dog-boy was, unfortunately, a man of instinct (like his nickname suggested) and rarely thought things through. That was why they were friends… _"I-I don't think that your guy let him, it just sort of happened…"_

"…thanks for letting me know." the kit replied in a small voice. Even without the aide of sight, Kiba could imagine his friend sinking into his bedding, trying to cope with reality. Naruto never ran away, no, he just took some time to figure out the proper technique for whooping reality's ass.

"_Hey, look, I'm sorry if—"_

"No. I'm glad you let me know." he said, a smile inflicted into his tone. Faked.

"_Naruto—"_

"I'll see you tomorrow. I've got to confront the damn bastard about a few things. Later."

Without waiting for a response, he hung up. And within milliseconds, his phone was in use once again.

-----

Upon hearing it ring, Sasuke glanced at his cell phone and a loving smile graced his face. _Naruto._

"_Teme, what the hell is this that I hear you let Sakura-chan kiss you?"_ the kit growled into the phone, barely capable to keeping his entire body from shaking with the anger he felt surging through him. Though he knew that he should be more angry towards his so-called friend, rather than the man he'd met only two days ago, but in the order of trust, interrogation fell on the one who'd become acquainted most recently. And that victim just happened the raven.

"What are you talking about, dobe?" The man responded, irritation lacing the very nature of his reply. What the hell was the dead last even saying? He hadn't kissed anyone named Sakura. Wait…

"_Kiba told me that he kissed you, asshole!"_

"Who is Sakura?!" Sasuke yelled back, not comprehending what in the world his blonde was even saying and at the same time trying to disprove the theory his mind was supplying.

"_Oh, don't try to get cute with me! That pink-haired waiter at the club! And let me just tell you, he also happens to be my fucking best friend!"_ He seethed, finding, much to his surprise, that there were tears accompanying his frustration.

"I don't know what you're trying to accuse me of, usuratonkachi, but I didn't do anything with that pink-haired waiter." The raven shot back, feeling his happiness at being called by his dobe disappearing quite rapidly. Crap… pink-haired… FUCK!

"_God, you're such a fucking __**liar**__!"_ Naruto screamed, not concerned with how his voice broke. He couldn't believe it, that this man who he loved had chosen to makes moves on another man, his best friend… but what reason should he have had to think anything? They didn't have any other connection besides his work to keep them together. In no other way had they made promises to each other besides those of carnal pleasure. He shouldn't be so worried about it… this was just going as it usually did.

Sakura was going to win…

Sasuke panicked, knowing that he had to say his part quickly. "I didn't do anything, Naruto! Sakura came over to me and asked if I wanted to take him with me when his shift was over and before I could say no, he kissed me and walked off! I didn't want—"

"_Save it."_ His voice was devoid of emotion, apathetic. _"I don't care. Have fun with him."_

The blonde ended the call and threw his phone to the end of his bed, glaring at it but not seeing it.

On the raven's end, he stared, astonished that the dobe had hung up on him. Angrily, he redialed the blonde's number.

When Naruto's phone began to ring, some pathetic love song he'd bought because of his obsession, he pressed 'Ignore' and continued to wallow in his self pity unaware that he might have done something that would make the state of their relationship irreversible.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashina: Sorry if this is more rushed and yet still later than usual. I was really busy trying to get settle in for the first week of school. Renee and Mirai-sama disappeared to work their homework as well, so they won't be speaking here. My classes suck…! Please review and I'll try to update soon!


	6. Idiocy is Not Genetic

Ashina: Well, I'm not stressing out about school anymore. The fifth week just began and I was afraid that I was already failing one of my classes, but it's all good now.

Mirai: Well, you're fine, so upload the story!

Ashina: I did! Geez... Love you all!

**Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, and stupid blondes… well, just one.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.**

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned. Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot.**

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashes

Sasuke stared dumbfounded at the blank screen of his cell phone. He'd probably been in that same position, frozen in shock, for a good fifteen minutes. And he definitely would have remained so if anger hadn't flooded to him in a sudden rush and melted his statue-like body.

"Fucking dobe! How dare he hang up on me!" he yelled in outrage. Never before had commoner or suitor treated him so callously. And now, the young blonde he'd chosen to be his wife, that he hoped would accept his proposal (put on hold for being caught on a snag), that he prayed would be able to withstand the life of a prince's wife, was breaking every law of courtesy concerning royalty.

Letting out another breathless curse, he flopped onto the bed and stared at the darkened ceiling. The impressions of the plaster stood out in the dimmed light, abstract art becoming the interpreter of his thoughts.

He closed his eyes for only a moment, trying to calm his raging mind.

Why did it have to be like that?

The stupid pink-haired slut who'd come up to him and offered himself, as he had the first day, was still as unappealing as he had been then. Not to say that the boy wasn't desirable, because he indeed did have an air of knowledge surrounding him that he didn't bother to hide and would be sought after a few, but perhaps that's what turned Sasuke off to him. The way he acted, the way he flaunted how much he was familiar with in that business, made him seem used. Made him seem like he was unclean, dirty, though according to Jiraiya-san, all of the boys were tested to make sure that they would not infect any other customers.

He knew that the dobe had felt his overwhelming joy that night, through the thin fabric of his pants the warmth had seeped through. If nothing else, the kit should know of his passion.

So something else had to be behind the blonde's doubt in his affection.

The problem was what. What could it be that plagued his soon-to-be-fiancé?

And how did this all tie back into that god-forsaken slut who had been the cause of all of this?

He rolled onto his stomach and hit he bed with his clenched fist.

Sasuke was not one to give up so easily. And he sure as Hell was not going to give up his dobe for the sake of a misunderstanding.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Lately, Naruto hated everything. The flowers. The sun. His teachers (though it wasn't really too new, they just seemed to irritate him more now). His friends. Even ramen and that surprised everyone the most.

His time at school, which had once seemed like a brainwashing facility because he was forced to focus whatever his classes insisted the lesson of the day, now seemed like an open field that allowed his thoughts to flutter freely like butterflies, journeying to wherever their waxy wings felt like flying.

The daylight placed his mistakes, his faults, his tragedies, before him in neat little stacks to be read without his willingness. As much as he tried to focus on his classes, it seemed like every other words held a secret meaning that his mind would translate as a memory of the past.

Kiba's pathetic apologies, always accompanied by a piteous expression, were never-ending. Every chance he was able to, he would spew those same empty words. Not empty because his friend didn't mean it, but empty because they didn't change anything within him. He'd forgiven his friend long ago; thankful that he'd been warned before the situation had gotten too serious.

Those two words, "I'm sorry" did nothing to change the fact that Sasuke had chosen Sakura over him in the end.

Said rosette hadn't showed up for school that day, so the blonde could only assume that there was something to be said for his absence.

Images, that made him sick with betrayal, were conjured up in his mind at the most inappropriate moments, making his attitude much sharper than his friends were used to.

It was driving him crazy!

The nights weren't any better. At nighttime, he would lie awake, trying to calm his mind by imagining what would happen the next day: what classes he would have, what homework he'd be stuck with, what antics his friends would create... but it always made him remember that he wouldn't have the pleasure of talking to Sasuke through the boring lectures.

He had lost again.

It shouldn't be so surprising, though.

Still, why did he feel so betrayed?

He had asked these questions repeatedly, never finding the answer within the cavernous mind of his.

They just bounced around like rubber, unable to attach to anything or connect to anything for a moment long enough for comprehension.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Minato struggled to allow the pull of rest drag him fully beneath and submerse him. He'd been watching his son for the past couple of hours; the sudden, whiplash-causing bipolarity in his emotions since yesterday, the almost uncaring disdain he stared at his cast with, the effort that he lacked even to talk during dinner, scared him.

The person who he knew to have been at the forefront of his son's thoughts had to be the cause of it all. That was the only logical explanation. The ecstatic smile that had been on the boy's face the day before could only have meant one thing: that this person meant something to him.

It was a rare thing, strike that, it was an unthinkable, though not illogical, thing to think that his son had found someone out there to take a significant place in his life that hadn't already been filled by his friends or by his parents.

The thought of a partner had been lost when he was a freshman and his first and only boyfriend had called him a monster and stormed out of the restaurant they'd been at. His son had arrived at home at two in the morning, drunken out of his mind and bawling.

But Sasuke—the person whom his had become so infatuated with in such a short time had managed to make his son forget about all of that heartbreak. The sheer weight of that emotion, of the absolute absorption to cause a block in the possible repercussions of past situations, had to be so overwhelming that he became too much to hold in.

The elder blonde often found himself wondering what this person looked like to have enthralled his son so much that he'd let go of the ghostly pain that had haunted him for the past three years. Naruto's heart had been put behind bars and wrapped in chains to prevent it from being hurt once again, yet this boy…

Naruto wasn't so superficial as to simply find the appearance of a man enough to allow attraction, though that had to undoubtedly be part of it for the connection to be made so fast. It wasn't so absurd to think that one would like a handsome person. But in Naruto's line of work, it should be a suspicious moment if someone mentioned "love." It was taboo and, to some extent, cursed.

Love was an unreal fantasy in the majority of those boys' eyes. If such a feeling, such a state, existed, then why were they baring their adolescent bodies and selling their companionship during the night? Why did they do this to survive? Why did they continue to come back to it if they had such an option as to run away to love? There were very few people who worked there for the simple pleasure of it. More than half of those boys had been employed because of a family crisis or falling into the wrong hands of gangs. The income they received went towards trying to fix that situation, though it was well known that it most likely would never better.

Minato knew that he wasn't much of a pessimist, but love was on of the world's scarcest resources. This applied to both worlds.

Traveling back to the memories of his childhood in the Underworld, he'd known plenty of men who'd gotten their hearts broken because he held no such emotion towards them. Even crown prince Uchiha Fugaku, heir to the Underworld throne at that time, had been refused his heart. The Uchiha male was quite good-looking, oh what an understatement that was, and his devotion and dedication were unquestionable, but it should be known that those traits also made it nearly impossible to resist him, as any sane person should realize.

That luscious black hair was something to admire. Those entrancing black eyes would glitter like the purest onyx gems.

The blonde could recall confusedly agreeing to the first get-together the man had invited him to. He'd been even more puzzled when the so-called "get-together" ended up being a reservation in a secluded and romantic restaurant. Even still, he was surprised to have said man propose to him once dinner was ended.

Despite feeling bad for refusing (what had that man been thinking?! they hardly knew one another!), feeling even worse when he saw the other's crestfallen expression, he couldn't bring himself to regret what he'd done. He couldn't force himself to feel emotions that didn't exist in that situation for him.

His own father, however, had been quite adamant about telling him about everything that he'd missed and keeping him up to date with what had gone on after he'd left.

Last he'd heard of the man, Fugaku had been married to a man that he'd met in the grocery while strolling around and avoiding the royal advisor's constantly harping words. The rumor went around for a while, saying that the Uchiha heir had been consummating a relationship with a commoner and impregnated the same man.

At the idea that such a proud man would ruin his public image for another person, Minato felt torn. No one had necessarily known about their relationship (as the restaurant they'd dined at had been paid to not say a word) so when they'd broken it off, no one knew and there was no fallen pride to try to rebuild. Now, hearing that Fugaku had libeled himself for someone, the situation bittersweet. He was glad that said man had moved on, no longer held emotion for him, but at the same time, he felt gypped for never having been shown that same love. Their situations could never be compared; the proof was there in black and white.

Fugaku definitely loved this person more than he had him.

He'd been invited to their wedding, but had declined to go because he felt out of place for having refused to the previous proposal.

Fugaku and his spouse, Mikoto, had birthed two children, two sons (unsurprisingly), with both looking like exact replicas of their parents.

Itachi-kun and…

Sasuke-kun.

A sharp inhalation of air swelled in his lungs as the information finally flooded to him.

Eyes quickly flashing over to his wife's face, Minato settled back into the bedding.

His son was in love with the son of the man he had refused.

His son held feelings for the offspring of the man he couldn't.

Knowing the customs of that realm, his son was eventually going to try to convince him to let them marry.

Oh, how horribly cruel irony seemed to be.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

On the last day of the week, what should have been a day to lighten up; the kit found he was too tense and uncomfortable to relax. This was the second day that Sakura hadn't come to school, and no one had heard from him.

Concerned, he tried to dial the pink-haired boy's cell number early that morning before school started, but was disappointed to find that it went straight to voice mail. He was scared.

Never before had Sakura flat out refused to make contact with people; his phone was like his lifeline. Even the days after he tended to customers during the night, he made it a point to come to school, acting as though his turning up was like proof that he'd won some grand battle and returned to gloat in his glory.

He would prance around school, his neck littered with love bites, and smile pleasantly at everyone. There was no suspicion that he was a stripper and a hooker; it was a common belief that he just had an extremely passionate lover.

A lover (could he really say that, knowing the truth?) who had not released him for the days past.

He was worried, distractingly so. For the fourth day in a row that week, the classes had little meaning for him. The world outside held much more significance. Because out there were Sakura-chan and Sasuke.

School ended with little change in his focus and, as he walked outside after staring into space for an extra ten minutes after the bell had rung, he wondered what he should do to face the situation.

A flash of pink caught his view. Suddenly, his arms were filled with one sobbing and devastated best friend.

"That asshole!" his voice broke as he sobbed loudly, clutching his friend's shirt. "H-He said th-that he'd already found someone! Th-That I was a slut! God, I could kill him!"

"W-Who, Sakura-chan?" the blonde stammered, surprised by not only the fact that his friend had randomly shown up on campus at the end of the school day, but also by the rosette's vulnerability that belied his usual state.

"The dark-haired guy from the club!" Sakura shouted at him, tone insulted, as though that information should be obvious. "I can't believe I liked him! What am I lacking?! What is it that makes me undesirable to him?!"

"B-But I thought he kissed you?" the kit asked to no one in particular. If Sasuke wasn't attracted to Sakura then why would he have kissed him? Given the chance, the blonde would have surely demanded to know the answer. However, Fate felt that he needn't wait too long.

"_I_ kissed _him_! And he shoved me away before I could even get close enough to him! Why doesn't he want me!?"

Wait, so Sakura had started it…? Fearful confusion halted the blonde for a moment.

_Sakura had started it._

_Sakura kissed _him_._

_Sakura kissed him._

_He didn't kiss Sakura._

"I don't think that he doesn't want you…" he quickly continued, realizing that do-you-think-I'm-stupid expression that the other boy was giving him. "You're an attractive person, but maybe he just found that person first and set his sights on that person. If he hadn't found that person… I'm sure that he would have given you a chance."

The sobbing pinkette nodded against his damp shoulder, sniffling to clear his nose.

"You don't want people to see you like this, do you, Sakura-chan?" the blonde tried to persuade, pushing the pink-haired boy away for a moment. "Why don't you go clean up in the bathroom? After that, we'll walk home, okay?"

He smiled comfortingly, convincing the other well enough that he walked away to the lavatory.

The kit sighed, walked himself over to the nearest bench, and collapsed onto it. They'd been standing in the middle of the courtyard. It took quite a few seconds before he could collect his thoughts enough to make anything coherent.

It was so hard to do this for Sakura. That didn't mean that he didn't want to do it, just that it seemed like it was betrayal to like this same guy and have the knowledge that he'd been chosen. And with Sasuke…

No. That was something that he would stay away from—

"_**I don't want to feel the way that I do, I just want to be right here with you, I don't want to see, see us apart, I just want to tell you straight from my heart…"**_

Heart pounding audibly in his chest, Naruto waited until his ringtone had drifted into it's electronic beat before flipping it open. He didn't have to look at the caller ID; no one else had that tone.

Before he could even utter a word, the tenor voice erupted in his ear.

"_Naruto! Please listen to me!"_

The kit debated whether to let the phone fall from his grasp and stare into oblivion at the realization that he'd been the one to hurt Sasuke in this situation or try to make his mouth move in an attempt to acquiesce the man. The surprise that the raven was calling him back robbed him of his breath and his control; the situation refused to translate in his mind. He knew that Sakura would be back any moment. But he didn't care for the moment. "Okay…" he said in a small voice, expression still blank.

"_What happened with Sakura, it wasn't because I wanted it to! He kissed me!"_ the Uchiha's voice was panicked, more so than he would ever admit if questioned. He didn't want to lose the perfect little blonde who was utterly desirable. In the sense that he knew that he didn't want this person to be with anyone besides him. He couldn't name the emotion that made him strive to continue to be with the blonde, but he could already recognize how coerce it was going to be. _"I know that you probably don't believe me, and why should you, but I want you to trust me anyways! Please! Give me a chance to prove this to you!"_

"I-It's not really that big of a deal, S-Sasuke…" he muttered, stumbling over the man's name. Why…? Why did it feel so good to say his name again?

"_Don't lie to me, dobe! You hung up on me the other day because it bothered you so much, right?"_

As if predicting the denial that wanted to float up from the kit's throat, the raven continued.

"_I'm begging you, Naruto, don't hang up on me again."_

Regardless of the fact that he knew that Sasuke wouldn't be able to see him, the blonde began shaking his head slowly, trying to dismiss the fog that had begun to cloud his mind. Those dark eyes… that lusciously black hair…

Sasuke cursed on his end of the line. What superb timing his father had. _"I can't tell you everything now, but let me call you back tomorrow. Answer me tomorrow, okay?"_

There was no response, causing the raven to study his phone to make sure the counter hadn't stopped. Good. The blonde hadn't hung up.

"_Tell me 'yes', Naruto."_

Without even thinking, the blonde said yes.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashina: Sorry it's so short. I was really trying to get the most out of my weekend and I rushed it. And if you're confused with what the time line of this story looks like, please add me to your DocX connections and let me know so I can send you the timeline, okee-day? ^^ One last thing…just so you all know, I've got an agreement with my friend Shizuka-chan. I have to write her a NaruSaku fanfic (why must I dirty my writing skills for pairing I will never support?!) in return for a SasuNaru set. So… um, yeah. I might take a little longer to update than I have in the past.

Mirai: She'll update faster if you give reviews.

Ashina: Thank you for reading.


	7. The Usual Teenage Angst

Ashina: Did you guys like that last chapter? I was a little disappointed in it simply because I felt like I didn't do as much with it as I wanted to. And believe me, my mind comes up with quite a bit of stuff. So yeah.

Mirai: I liked it. It ended up coming to the part that everyone needed to see. And yeah, guys, it really is moving that fast. Think Romeo and Juliet. Fast-forwarded four times.

Ashina: (sigh) Thank you for trying, Mirai-sama. I appreciate it.

Mirai: (confused look) What? You think I'm doing this for free?

Ashina: *0*

Mirai: (evil smile) Oh, love, I intend to draw every bit of this from you. Ten fold.

Ashina: Sorry for the late update, everyone, but this is the longest chapter in all the history of chapters that I've ever written, so I think that makes up for it.

**Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, and stupid blondes… well, just one.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.**

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned. Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot.**

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashes

"Otousan…" Sasuke said coolly. His father had interrupted his apology to his future wife, the prince expected him to have a damn good excuse for doing so. He realized that his insolence would not be tolerated, but at that moment, he truly did not care.

"_Sasuke. Suigetsu-kun came by the mansion a few days ago and mentioned that you had not found someone yet, rather, that this person that you were pursuing had yet to be approached with your proposition. Is this true?_

The raven felt his blood pressure rise a bit. The simmering beneath his skin forced him to take a deep breath. He hated how his father made his future seem like a simple business plan, like something that simply needed to be executed by a deadline and shouldn't take an overly-excessive amount of time, or emotion, to think through. It should be done and handed off for approval.

"Suigetsu doesn't know the entire story."

"_Does that make what he told me a lie?"_

"No. I have yet to have my intended wife understand the situation." Overly formal—that was how his father expected him to speak to him. It was as though they weren't even related.

"_I realize that you normally don't take my threats seriously. I resent the fact that you hold little respect for me. I will not argue with you on this. You should have found yourself a partner two years ago. I would not have cared that you had settled with all of your lovers, but this is a stain on the family name to have an unmarried heir. I tolerated your brother's sleeping around, but I made sure to put an end to it. He agreed to marry all of his wives. Do you realize the Council believes that I have no control over my children because of what you and Itachi have done?" _Fugaku's angry voice, detached as though he was merely scolding an employee, continued to ring in Sasuke's ear. He'd heard so many of these speeches before, about how he'd failed by following in his brother's drunken footsteps, about how he tarnished the Uchiha name, about how he had made so many mistakes in his life that had led up to his father needing to cover for his pathetic ass every time…

"Otousan, Naruto is coming with me tonight. I'm planning on proposing to him." He stated in a harsh voice, angry that he had to spell out his plans in order for his father even to begin to recognize that he was trying to satisfy his demands.

"_His name is Naruto? You are aware that if he does not possess a drop of demon blood, he will be unable to conceive a child, correct?"_

As much as the prince found himself wanting to scream bloody murder at his father for making the situation so difficult, he gritted his teeth and bit his tongue to withhold the seething remark that biting its way out of his mind.

"He is a half-demon. I felt that from him." He was glad for his detection: the one thing that his father would praise him for being able to do. Very few demons were able to detect the blood of another being, including purebloods; even they were rarely graced with that power.

Though the older man said nothing, Sasuke was sure that he was musing over the fact that the person he'd fallen in love with was merely a half-demon. His father was one of those people who looked down on those who weren't pureblood as dirty. He had not been aware the first time he'd seen the blonde, but after their second encounter and his comfortableness with the kit's 'scent' it had been easier for him to make that distinction. It was possibly the childish want to rebel that made Sasuke figuratively jump for joy when he realized that he could push another button on his father.

"_A half-demon's blood will not be welcomed by the Council."_

Finally, that last nerve snapped.

"I am in love with someone I'm sure will be able to love me back! And you, as my father, should be happy for me! You'd rather nitpick at every little detail about it! Are you incapable of showing even the slightest bit of support?! Or is it you just can't stand that I'm not the perfect little drone you tried to make me into after Itachi screwed up your plan?

"I will not bend to you this time! I _will_live my life the way I want to! Just face the fact that you have failed in creating robotic sons!" Heavy breathing choked off the rest of his outburst. He'd lost all of his steam with those few sentences. He did not regret it, but he could feel the same passive-aggressive submission settling in again. The silence on the other side of the sent a small shiver of fear down his spine. As a child, his tantrums were tolerated with silent disapproval and corporal punishment. But since his eighth birthday, his uncaring attitude had shifted to fear. He had never made such a brazen move.

And he was honestly scared shitless.

"_Is that what you believe, Sasuke?"_the eerily calm voice of the older Uchiha made his face turn a sickeningly pale. _"Do you truly believe that my goal was to control you like that?"_

He could not answer. The action of swallowing to attempt to clear his throat had all but failed him.

"_I see…"_ The sound of the musing man's voice, made his palms clammy. _"I will only say one more thing, Sasuke. I never intended to have it like that. You can thank your chichiue for the two of you not turning out like me. That might have been how it would have turned out if he hadn't come here to be with me."_

The older man sounded regretful, something that Sasuke had never believed was an emotion possible for him. He sounded tired, as though he was Atlas with the world was upon his shoulders and gravity was winning.

"_I'm disappointed to hear that you feel like that; not disappointed at you, but at myself." _Fugaku said nothing more and hung up.

Sasuke felt his throat clenching, his sudden sadness not making any sense to him, but not taking any of the pain away. He stuffed the notion aside, afraid that it might cause him some sort of inhibition later.

With a huff, he tossed the cell onto his bed and took off for a long, cold shower. Hopefully that would help to clear his head.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

"Naruto?" The pink-haired boy mumbled in a confused voice. His pale hand was slowly moving before his friend's face in an attempt to break him out of his daydreaming.

"Huh?" Green eyes peered into his defenseless stare and he jumped back upon realizing their proximity. "Geez, Sakura-chan! Don't scare me like that! You know how spacey I am!"

The frown upon the other boy's face showed much more than the displeasure that was obviously there. He looked almost even more hurt than he'd been before.

"What is it?" The blonde suddenly felt panicked. Hands flew to his face, checking it for any sort of disfiguration or blemish. "What?"

The pinkette looked extremely troubled. It took him a moment longer before he was able to open his mouth and talk. "You were smiling; it was like you weren't even here any more."

Guilt struck him like a hundred-pound weight. He could feel the willingness to help slowly giving way to a certain uncertainty again. How was he supposed to help his friend if he was sneaking behind his back with the man who was causing that pain? How was he supposed to be there for his friend when he was being such an unfaithful little hypocrite?

"I-I was thinking about what we should do. We need to go to Foster's Freeze and get ourselves some Twisters!" he forced his usual smile, noting that the pinky did not believe him. Not for one minute. "C'mon Sakura-chan. We need a good ice cream night. We haven't had one since, like, you dumped that one Rock Lee guy. Let's go! The Butterfinger Twister has my name on it!"

He hopped up from the bench, fingers clutching the other boy's thin wrist, fully intent on dragging him over to the fast-food chain to consume the caloric frozen cream.

"I don't really want any ice cream right now. Thanks for the offer, but I'd much rather just head home and clear my head." Dulled green eyes cast downward, tired voice wavering with exhaust. Sakura just pulled away from him, a thankful expression on his face, and headed towards the front gate.

Naruto watched his friend, feeling quite empty, as though he hadn't done anything to help though he was well aware that he'd done everything that was in his power.

Chased by the fading sun, the kit made his way home, drained.

-----

"Ne, Naru-chan," his mother began as she interceded his emotional eating urge "are you doing anything tomorrow night?"

"Huh?" A piece of turkey hung halfway out of his mouth as his head poked from inside the fridge.

The redhead woman was slicing up a few vegetables for the chicken stew they were going to have for dinner. "Well, Papa and I had plans to go out for dinner tomorrow night, and maybe rekindle our love," at this her son made a gagging noise, "and I didn't want to leave you here alone. I just wanted to know if you had any plans."

"Not right now I don't." he responded, swallowing the meat that he'd managed to shove down his throat.

"Okay… Hmm, maybe I'll call up Asuma-san and see if he can get Kono-chan to come over so the two of you can spend some time." she mused, dumping the food into a boiling pot that already contained the chicken broth.

Sarutobi Konohamaru was the nephew of one of Kushina and Minato's friends Sarutobi Asuma. As children, Konohamaru and Naruto had spent quite a bit of time playing pranks at their parents' get-togethers and other such events. He had not seen the boy in quite a while, after his grandfather had been killed by a drunk driver whose criminal record had been dredged up to reveal that he was a murderous scientist who had been bent on trying to find a way to become immortal… with how long he was going to be locked up, it might start to seem like he was immortal.

"It's fine, Kaa-san. I'll find something to do with Kiba and Gaara if nothing turns up. Maybe we'll go see a movie and then spend the rest of the night playing gruesome video games." the kit responded with a teasing smile.

"You know I don't like it when you spend ridiculous hours on end shooting people's heads off…" she reprimanded.

"Yeah. I know." Naruto chuckled as he skipped up the stairs, well aware of his mother's sighing.

He flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. The pale light shining in the room casted friendly shadows that struck up conversations with him.

It was nice… at least until he realized that he was freaking talking about the light refractions sending him some freaking mental messages about absolutely nothing!

He flipped his phone around in his hand, desperately wishing that it would ring. It would be nice if Sasuke actually freaking called him back tomorrow—

"_**I don't want to feel the way that I do, I just want to be right here with you, I don't—"**_

"H-Hello?" he stammered, taken by surprise that his internal ranting had, by chance, produced the proper results.

"_Dobe. Expecting someone to call?"_

Heart jumping into his throat, it took a few more moments before he could retort. "Bastard."

"_Is that all you can say?"_

"Well, gee, considering the fact that you _did _cut off our conversation earlier for no reason that I could see, you did quite a poor job at apologizing to me, and I was anticipating a call tomorrow, I think I have the right to be a little mum right now!" he shouted, fighting a predicted pout.

"_That makes sense."_ The dark-haired man sighed. _"Naruto, I want to meet you tomorrow for a date. Please, would you be willing to go with me?"_

"Sasuke-teme, explain to me why you think a simple date would be good enough to make up for your lack of reliability. Because by a normal person's standards, I'd be willing to say that you're making a shitty approach to gain my trust." the blonde snorted, trying to be as nonchalant and offhanded as possible though his blush was beginning to turn the shade of a ripened tomato.

"_Dobe, I'm sure that you're aware of it, but I'm not like normal people, so pardon me if my attempts seem a little different."_ The raven on the other end said arrogantly. He was proud of being a demon, or in just Naruto's eyes, different.

"You're such an arrogant bastard to think that I'd say yes again." the kit said in a seemingly angry tone, though he was pleased as a peach.

"_I'm only arrogant because I know how you'll react. You're just that predictable."_

Fucking arrogant son of a bitch.

"How's this for predictable." he said before he hung up, a smug smile towards the little electronic device.

When it started ringing again, he let the other boy wait in anticipation before answering on the final ring.

"_I deserved that."_

"Yeah, you did." The blonde's easily discernable smile made the prince grimace.

"_You haven't responded to my request yet, dobe."_

"What request, bastard?" he retorted, one leg bouncing up and down in a restless fashion over his knee.

"_Will you go on a date with me tomorrow?"_the raven repeated, a heavy sigh in its wake.

"Sure. I've got nothing better to do." Naruto said in an offhanded tone.

His heart swelled with a heat that warmed him from head to toe. His imagination, not particularly creative, ran wild with the cliché thought of a sunset kiss.

"_Dobe."_

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Naruto felt lighter than a feather.

For once, it was going his way. For once, he was going to be able to find that place he wanted. The car held little room for movement, but it wasn't as if he wanted to be moving any farther away from the older boy.

After a day at the Santa Monica Pier, one of Naruto's favorite places aside from Disneyland, lunch at a pleasant steakhouse, and then a sweet treat from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, the couple was prepared to make their way to their next, and final, destination of the night.

They drove to a lavish hotel (one could not expect royalty to spend his night in a rundown place such as a Motel 6, could he?) where, upon arriving, a valet member came to open his door and greet him. Flushing, and feeling quite out of place, he allowed the man to help him out of the car. Sasuke came around from the driver's side of the car with a certain angry expression that seemed easily translatable to Naruto: he was being quite possessive.

With a soft chuckle, he allowed the raven to take his hand and lead him through the building. He found it difficult not to acknowledge the stares that so many of the other guests were sending towards them. Even with his partner sending bone-chilling glares in their direction, their prying eyes continued to appraise them.

"Don't worry about it." The Uchiha said in an assuring voice. "They're just busybodies with nothing better to do."

Those words… my, how they managed to settle down his anxiety. Strange…

On the twenty-first floor, they arrived to a surprising area. A single suite, opened up to by the doors of the machinery, had greeted them. Naruto had noted that the raven had slipped his card into a seemingly invisible compartment into the elevator's wall. Not once had it crossed his mind that it might lead to a room. Then again, he was far too busy admiring the sharp angles of the Uchiha's clearly Asiatic features.

A comfortable silence enveloped the two of them as they entered into the room. Darkness, not blinding but disorienting, kept the kit from moving too familiarly around. Suddenly, he was far too nervous to keep his mouth shut.

"So…how old are you?" The blonde asked quietly, his eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness of the flipped on lamp.

Sasuke chuckled to himself. "Nineteen." he offered, watching as a certain amount of relief settled into the boy's eyes. "And you?"

Naruto moved to sit on the single king-sized bed. He flopped backwards, arms spread out, before answering. "I'm seventeen." The room was just as elegant and impressive. A flat-screen television was set parallel to the bed, accompanied, surely, by a ridiculous amount of entertainment that no single person would be able to watch during his or her stay. A doorway to the left of the TV led to the bathroom befitting of a suite; a brilliantly shiny black Jacuzzi tub and shower attachment were surrounded by the black marble countertops, which were matched to the room's gold and black décor.

"Aren't you a bit young to be working at a strip bar?"

"Well, my grandfather owns the place. He's the famous author of this stupid porn series so I guess when you're rich and powerful, the police don't really care what sort of business you run, right?" He tilted his head back, the image of the dark-haired man marred because he was upside down.

"Hmmm...I guess not."

That was all Sasuke said before he leaned down to capture the blonde's lips. He moved them softly, using only the slightest pressure, and he felt awfully victorious when the kit was the one to gasp and changed his position. He pulled Sasuke to straddle his lithe body, shading his from the light. Sasuke decided in his own mind that kissing this boy, this man (whichever term was preferred), had turned into a whole other activity that he was sure he'd never tire of.

Naruto, for all of his experience in seduction, had absolutely no idea what to do in this situation. Not once had the idea of actually having sex with someone he _was attracted to _(in a way much grander than simple lust) ever crossed his mind. Repeatedly, in his past, men had dirtied his body and they had always made sure that their own release was the forefront of the actions, but the way this man was treating him, the way _Sasuke_ was treating him, had drained all of that stored memory away from him. Automatic delete.

"Nngh…" he groaned into the kiss. Had he…just moaned? From a kiss? What in the world was this man doing to him? Why from just that—oh god!

Sasuke's fingers brushed against his left nipple and a delicious tremor shot through his entire body. As if trying to hide that, Naruto drawled, "Your fingers are cold, bastard."

"You would only know that if your shirt was off dobe…" the raven hummed against the caramel skin of his neck, distracted by his task. The scent, the flavor, the _reactions_! They were better than they had been in his dreams. Much. Better. "Mmm… but we can easily fix that."

The fabric of his shirt purposefully brushed lightly across his torso, stroking his over-heated skin in a taunting way as if to say, 'this isn't what you long for, is it? You want his hands, don't you?' And the kit had to agree to that.

But what awaited him was not those long tendrils that were ever so sensuous, it was the older boy's tongue that began to taste and tease his pert nipples. A hot mouth closed over one, the other being graced with the aforementioned promise, and he cried out in absolute ecstasy.

Sasuke was wonderful.

Refusing to acknowledge the raven's confident and trademark arrogant laughter, the blonde tried to focus on regulation of his breath, tried to force himself to breathe evenly to not so much as let the damn bastard that he was—!

"Yes…" he whispered ever-so-softly

"Yes, what, Naruto?" the prince responded, pressing feather-light kisses upon the boy's chest. He allowed his tongue to trace the lightly etched lines of the other's abs, moving in a hypnotizing circle between those and the dusky nipples that stood pebbled just above his line of sight.

Sasuke's heavy breathing was sticky sweet upon the blonde's body, clouding anything thoughts that might have come about. The raven's body pressed along the length of his, moving lower by such painstakingly slow caresses and kisses, was like a drug injected directly into his veins – such action caused his eyelids to dip and his sight to blur.

The edge of his white-washed jeans had grown uncomfortably tight, though they were the loosest that he owned.

Talented fingers undid the brass button and unzipped him, choking out a hiss from his throat. He shimmied, with conscious attention to the heated eyes continuously observing his body, until the fabric was about his knees and the only thing that stood between his desire and Sasuke was the soft fabric of his pale blue boxers. The tent pitched by his erection pressed against the seam of the raven's mouth.

"Aah…" he shivered, a single tanned, the other still in its orange cast, was reaching for anything to maintain his sanity. Sable locks happened to be his closest source and so, with a suddenly tight grip that made the other boy glare at him for a moment, he held on for dear life.

The tip of his cock was beaded with pearly cum, jeweled and glimmering in a tempting fashion, as if to lull the raven further, though to any voyeur watching it was obvious that he was already enthralled. Protruding from a nest of rich golden curls, the heated flash of the smaller boy's body stool tall before onyx eyes. Sasuke lowered his mouth upon it, tongue flicking out like a snake's to take tastes and rip cries from a willing throat.

The searing heat engulfed him, inch by inch, taking him deeper and deeper. Fighting the urge to buck his hips, he bit down on his lip, hoping that the pain would be enough to steel his control and—nope. Not going to happen.

Uncontrollably, his passion raged, throwing his body into what might seem like convulsions. He couldn't halt the trembling on his part, the twitching that his lower half seemed to want to continuously partake in.

In Naruto's body, a white burning was soaring across his skin, causing his breath be hitched in his throat, causing his chest to rise and fall sporadically, causing his body to jerk at every swipe of heat across his most favored appendage, causing his hands to tear at anything and everything to keep himself grounded.

"S-Sasuke!" he cried out, back arching off the bed as he nearly felt his soul leave his body. Boneless, sated, breathless, he lay in the covers, trying to regain his bearings.

And suddenly, he was on his stomach, head still reeling from his abrupt release.

"Naruto… are you a virgin?" he whispered with intent, the tip of his finger stroking the velvety and tight muscles of the dobe's entrance. The whimper and shaking of the blonde's head made him a tad irritated as he registered that his future wife had already been taken by another.

"When was the last time…?"

"A-At least two months ago… I-I haven't let anyone s-since then…" the kit moaned softly into the satiny black pillowcase beneath his face. He had felt the heated displeasure rising in his bedmate, but it was miniscule in comparison to the overwhelming lustfulness he still felt coming from him.

"Let?" the raven clarified, continuing his finger's movement as he pressed feather-light kisses up and down the contours of the smaller boy's back.

"Jiraiya let's us," he gasped as that digit that had been teasing him moved to stroke his perineum, "c-choose who we want to be with. With the exception of a high bidder who has offered too much to be deterred…"

"How many times have you not had a say in it?"

"M-More than I've been able to choose…" his right hand clutching the bedding helplessly as his gasping continued from the onslaught of pleasure, the other one, still in a cast, lay unmoving on his other side, "S-Sasuke, please… don't leave me like this… I want… I-I need…"

Sasuke, for all of his passion towards the kit and all of his wanting to finally claim the blonde as his, was feeling quite petty. He didn't enjoy the fact that he know had the knowledge of his love (yes, love, as he'd already determined) being forcibly taken. He was sure that it wasn't under the pretense of rape, but the unwillingness he could practically taste in the way Naruto had confessed such information to him. Prostitution was not generally a desired occupation. Nonetheless, he chose to ignore said blonde's cries for him to just take him. He wanted to burn himself into the boy; to make sure that he would not be forgotten, he took his leisurely time marking every inch of caramel skin that could be reached with his mouth. Mark after mark, he found his patience ebbing, the continuous stroking of that lone finger becoming an impossible to ignore reminder of the fact that he was finally touching the boy that he'd been seeking for so long.

The Underworld prince had definitely prepared for this night. Nothing would be out of place.

Moving as little as possible, so as not to jostle the bed and its occupant in a daze, he reached for the lube he's asked the blushing man at customer service to bring to him. The snap of the cap sounded as loud as thunder in the dimmed room.

Coating his fingers thickly in the cold substance, he hesitated for only a moment before a single tapered digit delved into the tightness that he so sought after. Immediately, the boy beneath him hissed as a concoction of pain and pleasure swamped his system.

The preparation took little time, as the raven did not want to waste too much of his precious night stretching the little kit. If worse came to worse, their activity would do the rest that he'd been too impatient to be thorough about.

One moment, his manhood was residing outside in the comfortable air of the suite, the next, it was encased in the mind-numbing heat that did just that. Only the initial action of locking all of his muscles had prevented him from moving.

Naruto's cry as he felt his rear being entered was the only thing that registered over the heady desire and pleasure coursing through Sasuke's veins; he would have been alarmed, worried, about that sound if he didn't recognize it for what it truly was – an invitation to plunder as ruthlessly as he felt. The way the blonde's muscles clenched around his rod, the way his hips were slowly beginning to undulate against his pelvis, the way his breathing turned into a soft panting of need gave him permission. And when he did, all hell broke loose.

With little regard, he flipped the kit over onto his back and began thrusting roughly, moaning at the way those velvet walls clung to his penis. He knew he'd hit the boy's erogenous spot when those slim finger that had settled on his own back began clawing at him and sweet moans began to fill the air.

He couldn't stop his body from moving into the tight heat that was the younger boy. As before, the taste of his lover was addictive like a drug, to the finesse point where he was unable to stop kissing him. His mouth. His neck. His chest. The nails he felt on his back were painful, yes, but it was easily dismissed. The pleasure that coursed through his veins was far more overpowering.

The way the blonde's mouth, when not occupied by his own, caressed each syllable of his name between each breath and thrust spurred him on further.

"Sa—"

In. Out.

"—su—"

In. Out.

"—ke—"

In. Out.

With each gasping breath the smaller frame swallowed, his body would tighten before relaxing with the exhale.

Sasuke was no longer maintaining the rhythm he'd begun, his broken and erratic thrusts no longer the forefront of his mind. The blinding white fire was slowly spreading to the rest of his body and turning the world an alluring rainbow of colors. His hips snapped forward with as much strength as he could muster, body moving to follow the movement, and he felt the arms about his neck pull their bodies together even closer.

The friction between them had trapped the blonde's manhood causing his head to thrash about like a man being electrocuted, causing his previous eloquence to be reduced to simple moans and pants. Nothing else made sense to him except for the pleasure that Sasuke had created for him.

"Sasuke!...Shit, Sasuke." he called out, body throwing into spasms as the other boy's essence coated his insides.

Their movements refused to slow, mini orgasms riding their systems until both were too drained and overcome that not even the smallest muscle could be moved.

Pressing his face into the mess of blonde hair that crowned the kit's head, Sasuke found himself lulled to sleep by the scent and the warmth of the other body.

For Naruto, however, the unwillingness of the situation now set in. The raven was exuding such a blissfully satiated aura, he couldn't help but feel cold despite the fact that he was wrapped up in strong pale arms.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashina: Had to cut off here, but don't bitch. You got your sex. Leave me alone. I'm tired. (closes eyes for a moment)

Mirai: (eyes glint dangerously) Ne, Ashina-chan... (—MATURE CONTENT!—) Review!


	8. The Sticky Stuff

Ashina: So, how'd y'all like it?

Mirai: She's been listening to too much country music lately.

Ashina: Hey! I grew up on that stuff! It's not my fault that suddenly "Cowboy Casanova" is in my head! I miss all that stuff… so simple and advice-y… lolz

Mirai: Read on, minions.

**Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, and stupid blondes… well, just one.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.**

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned. Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot.**

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashes

More than a few hours had passed since their coupling, and Naruto remained wide-awake. Pained and awake.

The pain in his rear, something which he still had struggles with overcoming, was eclipsed fully by the pain in his heart.

Sasuke's soft features called to him, told him of nights like this where he could just fall asleep wrapped up in the scent of warmth and protection. Where he didn't have to be afraid of waking up in the morning alone. Where he didn't have to choke back his disgust for money's sake. Where he could live a normal life and not have to worry each day about his future. The raven-haired man lulled him to sleep, pressed figurative weight on his eyelids and made him want to drift off to dreamland, but he tenaciously clung to his consciousness. Never would he admit it aloud but this sort of close contract with another person scared him. He wasn't unused to the physical aspect of it, that much at least he understood. He understood very well the reaction of the body when it came to attraction, release, torture, and pleasure. He understood the reasoning behind an erection, behind ejaculation, behind the reproductive process, but he didn't understand, or have faith in, emotion. Maybe that was why he'd allowed himself to become a stripper: it was his comfort zone. He knew every aspect of it, was familiar with it. He didn't have to worry about it being confusing because there wasn't much confusing about pleasure.

But then again, at the same time as he was immersing himself in a carnal bit of normalcy, he didn't have to take a chance and expose his soft parts, parts that he had never managed to harden because they were never available for a test-run. By putting himself out there, it was his way of not having to worry about his feelings – he knew it was just good business.

Too numerous were the times that he'd been talked down to for being too feminine, for being too willing, for being too abnormal, for being too this or that. Therefore, that attributed to his disillusion that the future could possibly be easy, be simple and comfortable if one made the right moves and choices. So many thought that getting through college was the worst of it all, that all one needed to do was graduate with spectacular grades, throw in a few parties and clubs, and then land oneself with a magnificent job on the first try.

_You said you'd always keep your word  
show me what you're after_

No one was ever truly satisfied with anything, even if he claimed to have the best job, the best girlfriend, the best children, the best boss, the best body, the best eyes, or the best world. It was human, and probably demon, nature to continue wanting.

_I thought you promised me the world  
tell me what you're after_

So he always questioned what made him think that he had the right to believe that he'd found love (or the forbidden inkling that it might be _true_ love).

Sasuke was the only other person who'd ever laid claim to the blonde in a way that didn't have to do simply with the physical domination. Sasuke was the only other person who had given the blonde a feeling of perhaps he could have something – anything, perhaps nothing that could be said in words – but something that wasn't as familial and chaste as he had with his mother and father.

He wanted something close, something that would break down barriers that normal society frowned upon. He had wanted a chance to show his passion that wouldn't end in such a disgusting feeling burning a hole in his stomach.

But now, the act of passion which they'd both participated in, which had been the most wonderful thing in the world for him, seemed like a tainted dance that did nothing more than dirty everything.

He heard the evening out of the other boy's breath, the rise and fall of his chest against his own, the tickling breaths through his nose that had the tiniest whistle at the end and found himself longing, lonely though he was most definitely not alone. That panging emptiness, knowing that this was just business, that the man would just pay his grandfather and go off to wherever in the fantasy land he'd appeared from, swallowed him up like a bottomless pit.

There was nothing different about this man; others had taken him on dates, perhaps not as time-consuming and more lavish, but they had only done it to show what they had, show off everything they owned, the blonde included. Nothing but a niggling emotion in the back of his mind, that called him a fool for even beginning to think that perhaps there was something more, was there to support his delusional hopes.

What did this man want from him that he hadn't already given?

Sullenly, he allowed his hands to reach forward and touch those pale lips. What would it feel like to kiss them for more than just a night? What would it feel like to have them spill unbroken promises to him on a day that was special to only them? He would never know, but he longed to. He could very easily just have been projecting his want for companionship onto this man by pure chance (and often times he talked himself out of attraction through this very method of self-questioning and doubt). His heart sank again.

The smooth expanse of Sasuke's features was disturbed in that moment as he opened heavy-lidded and bleary eyes. Naruto didn't notice it, for his mind was too busy arguing with itself about the situation.

The raven would very much have liked to admire the blonde In all his beauty, but found himself losing interest in doing so when he recognized the faintly glimmering, tell-tale signs of tears.

"Naruto?" he attempted in a voice hoarse form his pleasure-filled screams.

Broken out of his musings, Naruto looked at his concerned expression with bewilderment, only then realizing that the incriminating proof of his unconscious crying remained upon his face.

He hastily used the edge of the comforter to erase the evidence and inadvertently revealed his love-marked neck and chest, a sight that drew on his bedmate's male pride—Sasuke had most definitely marked the kit as his.

A strong hand found its way out of the tangle of covers ad pressed to the top of his head. He noticed how the kit flinched, as though afraid that his skin-to-skin intention might harm him.

Sasuke cupped his cheek, stroking it with his thumb. "What's wrong?" he whispered eloquently.

But Naruto did not respond to him—rather, he pulled himself to the raven's bare chest and sobbed, sobbed as he could never let himself do at work, as he would never let himself do with his father, as he should never let himself do before a customer. Sasuke said nothing. He merely listened to the boy's wordless and painful screams. He felt his shoulders heave with every surge of tears that forced its way out of his tired eyes. For an indeterminable amount of time, he held the blonde close to him, never letting go as he clung to him like his only lifeline. He pressed himself so closely that the seam between their bodies blurred.

His want to lighten the atmosphere, to make it more comfortable for the blonde, resulted in allowing his guard to be relaxed—something that _he_ wasn't comfortable with, but felt the he could cope with if it meant that Naruto would feel better. He kissed the blonde's forehead, soft and sweet, and allowed him to cry his fears out.

"I never noticed before, but you've got whiskers…" the raven observed, his hand softly stroking the faintly raised welts that remained on Naruto's face as a reminder of his past.

He watched the skin beneath them set aflame and looked on in interest as the smaller boy bit his lip.

"Yeah… that actually happened when I was in middle school." The kit bit his lip, whether out of uncertainty or out of hesitance – as if the chained up emotions would flow over. "I've been out, I mean, like, out of the closet since I was in junior high. I'm sure you know how that is. Everyone wants to be well liked and stuff… I guess I assumed too much when I announced that to my class on one of our retreats. The next night, when we were supposed to be on our 'bonding night hike', a few of the guys came up to me and beat me until I was lying in the wet brush. Then, from God knows where, one of them pulled a knife and carved me up, muttering something about how I wouldn't need to worry about buying a costume to satisfy me and my fag lover…"

He smiled painfully at the raven through the tears that spilled over in response to his fear of the mere memory.

"If not for Gaara…" he hiccupped, "I wouldn't be here right now."

"'Your fag lover'? Well. They certainly weren't worried about how rude they were being…" he mentioned offhandedly, as if that was only to be expected, judging by how easily they'd thrown the word at the beautiful blonde. In truth, he'd only interrupted at all because he could feel a small bit of green staining his persona, and it was quite unbecoming of him. So he squashed it as quickly as possible. (A/N: In other words, he was getting jealous in response to the mention of Gaara.)

His hands were twined into Naruto's short hair, feeling it's soft texture that belied the roughness the bright color suggested. He would readily admit to anyone who would ask that he was enjoying holding the boy in his arms much more than he should, being with a boy that he'd bought for the night.

Any of the others, any of his lovers who had spent nights with him always left him feeling cold and alone. He would spend the last shreds of his consciousness always convincing himself that he wasn't alone, that there was a person there with him, that the person with him would keep him company throughout the night. He felt much more comfortable now, with the small blonde in his arms and pressed against him so intimately, than he ever had with even his most frequented lovers.

The stripper was making him feel happy.

How odd… these people were only supposed to give the illusion of giving a person what he wanted. Yet the kit…

Maybe… just maybe…

He could ask something else of the boy.

"Naruto, would you be willing—"

A not-so-attractive snore rumbled from his slightly parted lips. The hand, which had been in use to keep him close to the raven, had fallen above his head when he'd slipped onto the plush pillow.

With a sigh, and a smile that he wasn't aware of, Sasuke snuggled under the duvet and allowed himself to be taken away from consciousness.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Fugaku lay in bed, thoroughly stressed to no end by his disappointing children. Not only had his oldest refused to take any of his responsibilities as the selected heir seriously, he had also impregnated yet another one of his harem boys. Eight children now with another one on the way… nine tainted children with their father's blood spread so thin amongst them. None of them had shown the Uchiha clan's demon ability—an eye-technique named the Sharingan—and there had been little else to be shown as evidence of them being Uchiha. A select few had shown the Uchiha superiority, maturing at perhaps a slightly faster rate than any of the children their own age, but even their physical attributes (hair color, even the dominant eye color gene) seemed to have been overruled by whatever barbaric genome lay within the bodies of his eldest sons wives.

Then there was the _other one_: the one who had always been the back-up plan, the one who he had employed upon realizing that his efforts with his first choice had been worthless. _That one_ had the gall to choose someone below them as his wife.

_That one_ had even thought that he would receive blessings despite the fact that he intended to taint their pure family with the blood of a half-demon. _That one_ thought that his marriage would still be blessed by the Council. _That one_ had refused to take up his responsibilities as an heir until two years after the fact… His sons hadn't paid nearly enough attention to their duties as heirs and now it was costing his family name dearly.

Although now, he wasn't sure what he was going to do about his back-up son…

He realized that he'd lied when he said that it had never been his intention to place his younger son in that position. He, having been King of the Underworld for quite a very long time, knew very easily how to manipulate the timing, the tone, the intonation just right so that his act was flawless. If one were to ask if he regretted doing that to his son, both of them, lying to them like that all their lives… he would say now. Without hesitation. It was unsightly for a ruler to show hesitation, even if it was towards his flesh and blood.

Conflicted, he stared at his wife as he lay on the bed, hugging his arm closely. His soft jet black hair, the same jet black hair that his sons had inherited, framed his face so adorably (not that he would ever let anyone know that his soft interior could only be brought about by his attractive wife.)

He wondered how he would have survived this long without this loving man always waiting for him. How had he managed ever to think that he would get by without Mikoto?

Never did he stop to think that maybe this was how his son could possibly feel about a young man whom his son had found.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

The bed was warm, much to the pleasant surprise of the blonde kit. A comforting black claimed his sight and assured him that he was most definitely comfortable with the situation. His breathing was uninhibited by the stifling atmosphere of a cheap motel or the stench of a dirtied body. He could only feel a relaxed and nearly "doped" feeling. It certainly helped that there was the presence of another person to add to that feeling.

His cheek was pressed against a soft texture, different from what he expected the pillow to feel like. And for whatever reason, the bed fell like it had a constant patter of inflation and deflation, making him rather disoriented. Shouldn't a bed be stationary? And he was pretty sure that there was a rather distracting lump beneath him… wait! Why was the lump moving—?

"Nngh!" he cried out, eyes fluttering open to the face of an arrogantly smirking familiar. He realized what he'd thought was the bed was in actuality his client from the night before, and the lump had been his client's morning wood (now a hardened arousal). "Bastard!"

"Mmm… my little tanuki… did you think I didn't know you were awake?" the prince mumbled, pressing his lips against the tanned cheek above him.

"What the heck is a tah-noo-key?" he grumbled, failing to seem as frustrated or commanding as he wanted to because of the flush on his face.

"A raccoon… it's just an old Japanese term, nothing to worry about." He chuckled, capturing his blonde's lips for a leisurely morning kiss. "Morning, dobe."

Naruto kissed his forehead, the top of his nose, both cheeks, then finally his mouth, a teasing light touch, before rolling onto this back, off of his comfy "body pillow", off of the bed, and onto his feet. He shivered delectably as he felt the remainder of Sasuke's passion from the night slide down his leg. Ah, the revenge of gravity.

Quickly, he made his way to the front room, to the couch, to his ridiculous orange overnight bag. Pulling out a pair of skinny jeans, a white shirt, and a purple hoodie, he walked back to the room, watching in fascination how the raven lay on his back in the middle of the bed, content and more god-like than anyone should be permitted to in the light that struggled through the heavy gold drapery. His dark, depthless eyes glimmered as they met his gaze.

He could feel that heated stare scanning his body, hot flashes licking his skin to remind him of what that man's tongue could do to him. He could feel his body coming alive, as though it was a programmed response, his arousal gaining life.

Sasuke's lithe body rose with inhuman grace, the sheets sliding off him like black waves, and he padded his way toward the mesmerized boy, his smirk perfectly in place.

His large palm graced the tip of Naruto's cock with only the briefest of of touches. The kit could feel his knees tremble as the Uchiha's warm breath humming over his neck, lips pressing into his shoulder, teeth digging lightly into the savory skin.

"Don't we need… angh… to check out soon… hah, bastard?"

His hands gripped the pale man's forearms, inadvertently pulling their chests to meet. As awkward as one might believe having someone's nipple pressing his own, it proved to Naruto to be a rather delightful event.

"It's only nine-thirty, moron. We've got until twelve. Plenty of time for another round, don't you agree?" He never waited for an answer as he pushed the little blonde towards the shower, overconfident in his usual Uchiha manner.

-----

"Naruto," the raven began, his fingers curled into the blonde's still-wet hair, "I need to ask you something."

Cerulean eyes flicked up to meet a serious onyx gaze, one that he realized he had never seen before. He had seen the man aroused, jealous, satiated, peaceful, and conflicted, but never had he seen such an expression devoid of any of those emotions listed.

"What is it?" he responded warily. What could the raven be asking that required such a frightful prelude?

"Naruto, please, I need you to just listen to me before you say anything, okay?"

Sasuke sat up, pulling the kit with him. Cupped in his hands were smaller tanned ones, seeming so soft and warm.

A curious gaze remained on his face, not understanding what the other man was trying to get at.

The prince could feel himself getting nervous, though as to why he didn't understand. He was simply going to propose to this stripper so he could get his parents off his back, right? He just wanted to get that obligation to his family out of the way, and why not allow his amazing fortune of having found someone who could satisfy him. It was better than having to be forced into a marriage with one of his more-than-willing fanclub boys: Johnny or Kyle or Ritchan.

Blue eyes, deeper and clearer than any body of water he'd ever seen in any World, watched his expression falter. What?

He took one large gulp of air, trying to steel himself enough to be able to complete his task. this blond was doing things for him that no one else had ever done. Why was he hesitating?

"Sas—"

"Willyoumarryme?" the prince blurted out, effectively cutting off the blonde and grinding his nerves down to the bone. His body locked with tension, eyes squeezing shut painfully, afraid to see or feel what was to come.

The cars on the outside streets moseyed along in their cacophonic ways, the birds sang as loudly as they normally would, and the boisterous atmosphere of the brunch consumers never dimmed.

Despite the curtain having been pulled back to allow the strong sunlight to shine through the sheer, Sasuke couldn't feel it – despite being in it's direct way. He felt like a statue in the way of a wrecking ball: unmoving until whatever happened, happened.

He didn't know if he could take this waiting any longer. Why hadn't the dobe said anything yet? Was he not happy with it?

"Absolutely!" the kit cried with joy as he shot forward, kissing the raven passionately.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashina: What?! He accepted it that quickly?! You dobe! haha I don't have plans to say who the person was who Naruto called his first boyfriend nor the people who hurt him. They were just inconsequential nobodies to help further the story line. They will not be turning up later. Anyways, after this is the epilogue. Yay! We're so close to the end!

Mirai: Really? You aren't very good at multi-chapter stories if it's this short.

Ashina: (frowns) Mirai-sama, sometimes you're just plain mean. I've realized that when I don't intend to, the word count seems to exceed the intended; but when I desperately aim to get to a specific number, it never works. (pouts) OOH! There will be a sequel. Hoorah! Rejoice my lovelies! Thank you so much for reading this entire time!


	9. You FORGOT to Mention That

Ashina: Here we have the final chapter. Yay! We have made it this far! Thank you so much for everything, guys!

Mirai: Yep. Thanks.

**Warnings: M-preg, OOCness, yaoi, and stupid blondes… well, just one.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. This sucks.**

**Note: Some female characters in this story have had their genders reassigned. Their names remain the same, but their sex has been changed for the sake of the plot.**

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashes

"Y-Yes?" Black eyebrows crumpled in confusion and disbelief as he parroted a rather unconvincing version of his…fiancé?

"Yes, bastard!" the blonde chuckled, arms holding his partner in a death grip.

Paralyzed, Sasuke sat there on the bed, dumbstruck and unaware of the gushing boy in his lap.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked tentatively.

Now how to break the news to him... It would be easier not to say anything, to let his bride-to-be figure it out on his own, or develop his own theories, and then just move on from there, but there would be repercussions concerning Naruto's pregnancy... But then again, he could always just be forward and say--

"Naruto, I'm a demon."

Oh God.

He could do that too.

The kit looked at him owlishly, most likely reaching his emotions before chuckling (most likely because the Sasuke within had remained frozen with his hands clapped over his mouth and a mortified expression that was not becoming of the raven). "Its okay, bastard. I am too."

Then the Sasuke within slapped his forehead in embarrassment. He felt very stupid for not having remembered that his fiancé was a half-demon and that had been his whole reasoning behind choosing Naruto in the first place.

"What makes you so special, huh?"

"What are you talking about, dobe?" He scowled.

"Did I stutter?" He chuckled to himself. "What sort of powers do you have? You're a full, right? Tell me what you can do!"

His happy smile dazzled the raven, until he remembered that he'd been asked to deliver. Without another word, only his trademark arrogant smirk, he let his fingers begin to glow and made sure to keep them in plain sight as he metaphysically cupped the boy's cheek and pulled him forward for a kiss.

Pulling back only slightly, nipping the kit's lower lip, he said, "I can tell that in your mind all you're thinking about is how much you'd like for me to push you onto the bed and devour you again." The other boy flushed healthily. "How's that for powers?"

A sudden huffed laugh made him pull back fully, forcing him to stare into those hypnotizing orbs. "Almost as good as being able to know how nervous you are right now." Naruto jibed playfully.

A pout replaced that smirk, one that quickly morphed into a scowl as the Uchiha knocked the dobe off his lap.

"Enough fooling around. We need to check out." Sasuke remarked sullenly.

The car ride home was lively, as the blonde in the passenger seat babbled on about how his father was a full-blooded demon as well, and had chosen to leave that world behind in favor of the vajajay that was available in the Mortal World. Naruto rambled on about how he thought his father would react to their engagement (a thought that made the Uchiha shudder in his seat; every boyfriend/fiancé's fear - demon or not: meeting their significant other's father).

"I haven't really been with anyone since I was an eighth grader. Wow, it's been a really long time." He pondered. Then that dazzling smile lit up his face again as he continued one. "He and Mom have wanted me to find someone to be with for a while. They really don't like the fact that I strip, and I'm sure that they were hoping that my being in a relationship would stop me from going there. But I don't like them doing all this stuff for me, paying for everything, you know? It makes me feel bad that they give me so much and I can't be more helpful to them. I make quite a lot of money each night, even if it _is_ only twice a month, so I'm hoping that this summer I can send them on a trip to Hawaii or something."

Sasuke mused about how selfless his partner was. He wanted to send his parents on an all-expenses-paid excursion to somewhere else so that they could relax and reap the results of raising their son right… he would never think to do that. His father and dad were both rich enough that they could afford to go anywhere they desired. Not to mention the fact that his father would more than likely tell him that whatever flight he'd booked, whatever room he'd reserved, whatever event had been planned, he could have done better.

"So, are you planning on introducing me to your parents, bastard, or are we going to be unfair and one-sided about this whole engagement thing?"

He turned with playfully-lit eyes to face the man in the driver's seat.

"My parents are in the Underworld, and I'm not going to be taking you anywhere until I know that your parents aren't going to kill me for trying to have your hand." he sighed, head wilting a bit as he reminded himself once again that he was walking right into his own suicide.

The light turned green and he stepped on the gas pedal before he spoke again, revealing a very un-Uchiha-like nervousness. "Will your parents like me?"

Though he didn't look at the blonde, he knew that Naruto was truly thinking about what he'd asked and his heart sank. As different as it seemed, he was very self-conscious about what adults thought about him, after it being so necessary that he was conscious of his father's opinions. He wanted to convince himself not to care, that he shouldn't care, but truthfully, he was weak against the opinions of people older than he was. And with his future, his (hopefully) future husband, he would be very disappointed not to have the favor of his in-laws.

"No, they probably won't because you're an arrogant, possessive bastard." Naruto began, having returned to gaze off through the windshield. Disheartened, the prince turned back to the road, trying to find a way to impress the parents of his fiancé despite his less-than-desirable attitude. "But, because I love you, I know that they'll go ahead and at least try to learn to like you."

With a tired sigh Sasuke tried his best to expel all of his nervous energy and try to feel relieved. But, as the raven-haired prince continued to drive, he could tell he was still nervous as hell. Well, that hadn't helped much.

Black eyes, much too similar to be other than those he was familiar with, stared at him directly in the face with the same sort of high-society aura that he'd known. And truthfully, Minato was just a bit unnerved.

There were two boys sitting in front of him on the cream-colored couch (A/N: Ha! I used alliteration! English class did have some use on me!), looking quite meek and stiff. One was his beloved son, his similar eyes staring at the ground while twiddling his thumbs in his lap. The other, with analogous attributes as his father, could be none other than Uchiha Sasuke, prince of the Underworld. He felt torn between glancing at the blonde beside him and staring off through the front window opposite of the couch they sat on.

Minato could tell that something he was not going to like in the least was going to happen. He just knew.

His child was silent and demure which was completely unlike the usual Naruto. And his son was clearly distracted, because all he could hear in his young son's mind was a chorus of 'Candy Mountain, Candy Mountain, Candy Mountain…'

However, the other boy's mind was much different, much more sure.

'If this all goes well, I will call my father and tell him that I will return by the end of June once Naruto graduates. How to transfer us there, though… Naruto's never traveled between the worlds… he'll probably get sick. That won't make a very good impression on Father… Maybe I'll call Dad to come pick us up. Surely he'll forgive me for showing up with such an unprepared Naruto—'

"Anything you'd like to know, any questions you'd like answered, I'd be willing to answer for you, sir." Sasuke said suddenly, catching the older blonde by surprise.

"Eh? Eh?" Naruto chirped, completely out of the loop as to the exchange between his father and fiancé. 'Stupid, mind-reading, secret-keeping bastards!' he cried in his mind, pout on his face and arms crossed over his chest. He knew very well that he other two men could hear what he was saying.

"Watch your mouth, Naruto." Minato reprimanded. "I don't care if it's verbal or not, you know very well that you're not supposed to use that sort of language."

"What?! How come you're allowed to have secret mind conversations with Sasuke-bastard, but I'm not allowed to whine I my own head about what sort of meanies you are? Geez, way to be fair, Dad."

"This is all beside the point, sir, with all due respect. I'm sure that by now you've figured out who I am and why I'm here." Sasuke stated frankly.

"You told him already, bastard?! Aww, come on! I was creating a great story about this! I could have avoided so much and had a painless death!" the young blonde cringed, thinking about how painful his death was going to be now.

Seeing that there was no reaction from his father, nothing to signal that his mind had registered either things he or the raven had stated, he thought he might just sit back and wait patiently for death to be read to him by his father's angry voice. He nearly choked on his own saliva when his fiancé knelt down to the floor in front of the couch and bowed politely to address the adult before him.

"Please, sir, I've come here to ask you for your son's hand in marriage. I realize that I've had no formal introduction prior to this moment, so please allow me to do so now. I am Uchiha Sasuke, second prince of the Underworld, and I have fallen in love with your son."

"You're a prince and you didn't tell me?!" the blonde yelped from the couch, nearly falling off in surprise and exasperation.

"I didn't think it was exactly very necessary at the time, dobe. We were preoccupied with other things."

The kit, who believed he couldn't be any more mollified, was proven wrong as he heard his fiancé practically rub it in his father's face that the reason he hadn't been home last night because they were screwing. His dad knew that it had been for work, but… that bastard was gloating about their sex! If Naruto had been more embarrassed in his life he certainly couldn't remember it.

"Sasuke, I wish—"

"I'm home!" a voice called from the garage door that was situated to lead into the kitchen.

"Oh no!" Naruto squeaked, visibly much more concerned, from what Sasuke observed. Who was this woman who made him so worried?

"Honey, I had the hardest day at work today. One of my clients just kept arguing with me about how he wouldn't change the selling price of his home, even though he had an offer that was very reasonable. The longer he tries to hold onto the price, the slimmer his chances for an offer will get!" she called. The silence of her finishing followed the sound of something heavy (a briefcase) and numerous slapping folders dropping onto the counter and then the opening and closing of the refrigerator and then the crack of a water bottle being opened. "His house honestly isn't worth one point four million. I'd hedge it at one million maybe…Oh?"

Kushina had halted in her ranting, after having seen her son and other boy before her husband. In her navy skirt-suit, with matching blue heels, she strutted forward to take her place beside her spouse, hands upon her hips as she appraised her son, trying to curl up into a little ball to hide. The other one had an unrelentingly arrogant expression upon his face despite being on his knees and seeming to be requesting something of the man before him.

"What's up with this, little black-haired boy with my Naru?"

"M-Mom!" His parents' eyes flashed to their offspring and waited impatiently for him to explain his end of this situation. "Sasuke's m-my fiancé… w-we're getting married and I, we, wanted to make sure that you knew…"

"Oh?" the red-haired woman replied skeptically. "And when did the two of you get engaged?"

"This morning." The small voice answered.

"Really? Is that what you were doing when you said you had to go to work last night?" the dangerous tone lashed out, the _mom_ tone that made him shiver knowing that he was seriously seconds from being killed.

"I-I was with Sasuke!"

"And Sasuke is who?"

The prince cleared his throat. "I'm the second pr—"

A threatening smile from the woman shone in his direction. "I'm sorry. You must have understood me. I asked who Sasuke is." The smile widened - evil incarnate. "That means that I honestly don't give a shit whether you are a fucking prince from the demon world or a prostitute who kidnapped him simply because you couldn't get it up in front of your customers. You are not going to be marrying my fucking son."

Then those bright eyes turned on her son.

"And you! This is exactly why I didn't want you working at that goddamn strip club! Because I knew that at some point, you were going to be lured by some horrible person who wanted to ravish you every night until you were unable to even crawl home to us and then he'd trap you so that you couldn't get back and then he'd send a ransom note saying that unless we handed him our precious heirloom jewels that he'd keep you!" Panting heavily, she retracted the finger she'd thrown out and straightened out before nodding towards her husband and stalking upstairs.

"We have heirloom jewels?"

Minato shook his head slowly, not bother to look back at his son, eyes still on his wife as she disappeared onto the second floor. "No, we don't."

"She was really mad, wasn't she?"

"Yes." A somber expression replaced the furious one that had been upon that mature face before. "Your mom has always been so reluctant about letting you do things; she just wants to protect you. She was so hesitant to allow you to work for your grandfather. She's not being irrational, just caring. She loves you. I do too." Dark eyes appraised his son. "I don't think you're making the right decision. You're too young to know what you want, especially when it comes to love and your future. As for His Highness," eyes flashed to Sasuke, "I know what sort of pressure you must be under from the current king, but know that I do not approve of this. And I have yet to make the decision whether or not I approve of _you_."

With that, he walked away, up the stairs, most likely to comfort his disturbed wife.

Naruto slumped back into the old couch cushions and sighed, a tired smile on his face, as though all of his troubles had finally gone away.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Night fell upon the quartet and, through much pleading and puppy looks, the Uzumaki couple allowed Sasuke to sleep in Naruto's room under the condition that if even a single noise that was disruptive floated out of the crack under the door the prince was to be relocated to the backyard.

Upon the bed, the blonde sat in his fiancé's lap, staring him in the eyes with absolute enthrallment.

"Would you like to hear the news now or later?" the Uchiha questioned, blushing slightly at the look on his fiancé's face. Naruto's bright sky eyes glittered with happiness, unveiled and unrestrained at the notion that his father had finally - after many hours practically battling the fiery will of Kushina - accepted their relationship and sudden engagement (as well as the seemingly unreasonable grounds for it.) He really didn't want to break that happiness with this rather unusual fact that had floated into his head inconveniently.

"What news, Sasuke?" the blonde inquired, tilting his head to the side, looking very much like the fox his fiancé had fondly begun thinking of him as.

"Youmightbepreg…"

"What was that?" the kit had begun playing with a strand of hair, gently running his fingers along the piece, admiring how it shined in the diffuse light of his light above his light. Then again, at one in the morning (for some godforsaken reason, when he should be sleeping because he had school the next day) everything looked beautiful. Even the crazy-ass-sized crane fly that seemed intent on reaching the source of skylight-set on the ceiling was beautiful in its own way… damn he was tired.

He'd had sex with the man of his dreams, that he'd met in a place where he made sure he never dreamt, gotten engaged to said man, and—

"You might be pregnant."

—he might be pregnant. What a wonderful…

"Excuse me." His hand froze in its action.

As if sensing that his life was in a bit of danger, the Uchiha prince [ushed Naruto off his lap and scooted away on the bed before repeating himself, nice and slow. Part of him was amused that his fiancé couldn't make sense of what he was saying (that dobe), but the other was very afraid of the outburst that was sure to follow once said dobe figured it out. "You may... quite possibly be pregnant."

The only noise was the incessant fluttering of the bug as it failed over and over to reach that small bit of heaven that it perceived in the lights.

"B-But I'm a guy! That's not possible!" Naruto sputtered, his voice breaking through a number of sound barriers. "I'm not a girl! I don't have boobs, or a vagina, or anything else!"

"Didn't your dad ever explain it to you, dobe?" he responded, shaking his head at the dobe's profound idiocy but remaining wary in case said dobe decided to lunge forward and throttle his throat. He prayed that he could remember something from the self-defense classes that had been necessitated by his rabid fans. "There are solely men in the Underworld. There's a mutation in the sperm of a demon that holds necessary enzymes that, when mixed with the information held within a special gland located near the prostate and in the proper psychological state, will cause pregnancy within the male. But that doesn't mean you're actually pregnant!"

"No!!!" the kitsune denied. How could have possibly gotten pregnant without the knowledge? And why the hell did these freaking Underworld rules suddenly apply to him?

"It wouldn't have mattered which dimension we were in. The fact of the matter is that you had sex with me."

"Hey! You promised not to read my mind!"

"I didn't, dobe. It's written on your face."

Said dobe flushed and turned away, hand flayed over his flat (for now) stomach. He couldn't wrap his mind around it. Something, a child, was going to be growing inside of him. It was going to be living inside of him, for nearly ten months. Why? Surely he'd never read any of this in a sex ed class!

"How else do you think my brother would have been able to carry out his duty to the clan?" Sasuke queried. "With his pride, I doubt he'd sully himself with a mortal woman."

Though never having met Sasuke's brother, from what he could infer, he was sure that his lover's older brother possessed some sort of charm similar to Sasuke's. That beauty had to be genetic.

"W-Well excuse me! While you Uchihas are all fertile and whatnot, the rest of us half-breeds are supposed to be dirty and seen as sterile because of the human blood flowing through our veins!"

Once more, the raven shook his head and sighed in exasperation. "Dobe, have you really never been taught _anything_ about that world? That's just a demeaning excuse given by hotheaded purebloods. There's no such thing as a sterile demon; period. We all have the same chance of becoming pregnant as the next one."

Naruto could feel his world spiraling. If one were to look into his mind, he would notice how everything he'd learned, everything he'd been taught in school, every logic he'd ever been forced to remember, it was quickly losing meaning as he was submersed into that new world. Everything was burning in a fiery mess, turning to ashes.

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Ashina: Well, loves, this is the end of my story "Ashes." However, fear not, the sequel, "Words" has been typed out for quite a while (the first few chapters at least) so I will update within a few weeks. Just got to speak with my new muse, Crimson-chan, to ensure that I get what I need to straightened out, and then you shall be able to view and worship its amazing glory. :D Marriage, Preg!Naru, and too many connections between the Mortal World and Underworld to be sane waiting for your eyes in the sequel!

Mirai: Thank you very much for reading, lackeys. (evil smirk) Now, continue to be good little brainless drones and pay attention to the updates. AUTHOR ALERT HER OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND FORCE YOU TO WATCH ENGLISH DUBS OF GRAVITATION!

Crimson-chan: While I most certainly agree that _**YOU MUST ALL AUTHOR ALERT THIS BIZNATCH RIGHT HERE~ **_I FIND MY MIND MELTING AT THE THOUGHT OF DUBS! NOOO! NOT ENGLISH DUBS! MY EYES AND EARSSSS. Hallo beautiful readers~ Hope you liked our chappie, I did my best to use my fantastical writing skills to enhance your slashing experience. I hope you enjoyed it, there will be-as Uchiha-chan said-a sequel coming up. And after the sequel is published then maybe I can poke her with a stick long enough to get her to update Looking for Angels - the fanfic that led me to her, like a bright beacon of slashiness. _**YOU NEED TO READ IT-GO READ IT NOW! I COMMAND THEE~**_

Ashina: Just random, I was listening to "MMMBop" by Hansen (hooray for the 90's) and I realized the lead singer has a Justin Bieber voice… how is that we loved them then, but we (I) can't stand that little shemale? Sorry those of you who like him.

Mirai: Who's that?

Crimson-chan: Ohmygod Hansen, that takes me back…and once again I feel old…

Ashina: -_-;; Nevermind. REVIEW PLEASE!


	10. Timeline

**Thought I'd post this for the sake of keeping track of time. I know that it was crazy trying to get this down in my head, so I hope you appreciate it.**

**This timeline occurs from April 11, 2010 - April 18, 2010 (and yes, if you check it on the calendar, the dates will match up; that's what I've done for this entire story and the sequel to make it easier to keep track of.)**

**--U R Darkest's Pawn--**

Sunday (nighttime) – Sasuke arrives in Mortal World, seeks out Gentlemen's Club, sees Naru-chan for the first time, Sakura sees him for the first time, Naruto goes home that night and gets chewed out by Minato, gets permission to work again

Monday (daytime) – Sasuke watches him in the middle of the night, school day, Naruto finds out that Sakura likes Sasuke too, Naruto realizes how deep his interest in Sasuke is, Gaara calls Jiraiya to make sure that Sasuke is returning, Sasuke gets a call from Suigetsu later on in the afternoon

Monday (nighttime) – Naruto goes to work, sees Sasuke there, practically gets off on the man, Sasuke asks Jiraiya to give Naruto his number, Sasuke uses his "magical powers" to touch Naruto after his final performance, Naruto gets his number, calls him unthinkingly, later he gets home and squeals about the whole ordeal to his parents, Minato is concerned about this person

Tuesday (daytime) – Naruto and Sasuke text in class get to know each other better

Wednesday (daytime) – Naruto and Sakura are in the dojo in the afternoon, he breaks his wrist

Wednesday (nighttime) – dream about Sasuke, hand job(!), finds out from Kiba that Sasuke was kissed by Sakura, tells Sasuke he doesn't want to be with him

Thursday – Friday: tries not to think about Sasuke, Sakura doesn't show up to school

Thursday (nighttime) – Minato realizes who Sasuke is

Friday – (daytime) Sakura finds Naruto at school and tells him that Sasuke rejected him because he has already found someone and called him a slut that night, Sasuke calls Naruto again begging him to forgive him, Naruto begrudgingly says yes, Sakura goes home with an ambiguous tiredness

Saturday – (daytime) Sasuke calls, awkwardly asking what he needs to do to make it up to Naruto, Naru-chan responds by saying that he needs to be taken out on a date

Saturday – (nighttime) you know… (wiggles eyebrows)

Sunday – (daytime) proposal, explanation

Sunday – (afternoon/nighttime) They break the news to Naruto's parents, Minato not pleased, Kushina furious, Sasuke let's Naruto know that he may be able to get pregnant


	11. Propaganda

Just because I'm not sure how many readers of this story have me on author alert, I decided that I'd post a little notification at the end of "Ashes" to let every one of my little pawns know that I've posted the first chapter of the sequel "Words." So just take a little trip to my profile and you shall find it. So go. And review. NAOW! XD

-Ashina


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